floodway

noun

Definition of floodwaynext
as in spillway

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of floodway Westcott said some of the subdivisions along the creek were built in the 1960s and 1970s when proper drainage was an afterthought and fences were installed in floodways. — Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 26 Mar. 2026 Call it resilience, call it infrastructure, call it economic development—just build it before the next 8-year-old goes to sleep in a floodway. — Daniel Lehewych, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Sep. 2025 Corey Waldrop, who owns the property and is developing it under his company Motiv Ventures, plans to reclaim some of that floodway and the adjacent floodplain. — Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 Aug. 2025 Many jurisdictions outright prohibit new construction in floodways, but most of those rules apply only to immovable structures. — Bayliss Wagner, Austin American Statesman, 1 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for floodway
Recent Examples of Synonyms for floodway
  1. spillway
  2. sluice
Noun
  • The Johnson County Sheriff's Office received a call around noon of two persons in the water near the Coralville Reservoir spillway at the nature reserve, which is roughly eight and a half miles north of Iowa City.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026
  • The sheriff’s office said deputies responded shortly after noon Tuesday to a report of people in the water at Lake Macbride State Park near the Coralville Reservoir spillway.
    — Kelsie Cairns , Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of spillway
Noun
  • The water flow is being managed at Canton Lake, and the Corps of Engineers said the goal is to have between 600 and 730 cubic feet of water per second leave through sluice gates during the greatest period of flow.
    — Dale Denwalt, Oklahoman, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Dam Removal Europe found that the number of dams dismantled in 2025, along with other water-flow controls like weirs, culverts and sluices, grew by 11% from the year before.
    — Chas Newkey-Burden, TheWeek, 3 June 2026
Definition of sluice

Browse Nearby Words

flood tides
floodway
floodways
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Cite this Entry

“Floodway.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/floodway. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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