as in tributary
the beginning part of a stream
the first exploration of the Missouri River from its mouth to its headwaters was made by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in the early 1800s
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Recent Examples of headwaters
While the river’s headwaters are near Salem, most of the outfitters are located in Steelville.
—
Kelsey Yandura,
Midwest Living,
17 June 2026
That compact was adopted in 1943 by Colorado, the headwaters of the Republican and several tributaries, and Nebraska and Kansas, the two down-river states.
—
Allen Best,
Denver Post,
14 June 2026
These burn areas create barriers around villages, headwaters and sensitive sites, protecting them from wildfires during peak drought.
—
ABC News,
7 June 2026
The Cassai Life Atlas discoveries build on a decade's worth of surveys led by the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project within the Okavango and Lungwevungu headwaters, which uncovered a combined total of over 70 species confirmed new to science, according to The Wilderness Project.
—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
3 June 2026
The headwaters of the Yadkin River were not located in the area of heaviest rainfall and the threat for flooding has ended there.
—
Nc Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
27 May 2026
From its headwaters high in the Oakland Hills throught the city's Fruitvale District to where the waters eventually empty into the Oakland Estuary and San Francisco Bay, Sausal Creek is a historic treasure.
—
Molly McCrea,
CBS News,
8 May 2026
Already primed for catastrophe, townspeople’s discovery that developers had quietly targeted Acton for multiple battery projects stoked fears of industrial blight, fire and contamination of residential water wells and the nearby headwaters of Southern California’s last free-flowing river.
—
Bloomberg,
Oc Register,
23 Apr. 2026
Now, Hall and Hall is marketing the 1,500-acre Spring Creek Ranch, a marquee holding at the headwaters of the renowned Fall River.
—
David Caraccio,
Sacbee.com,
3 Apr. 2026
Kelsey Yandura,
Midwest Living,
17 June 2026
That compact was adopted in 1943 by Colorado, the headwaters of the Republican and several tributaries, and Nebraska and Kansas, the two down-river states.
—
Allen Best,
Denver Post,
14 June 2026
These burn areas create barriers around villages, headwaters and sensitive sites, protecting them from wildfires during peak drought.
—
ABC News,
7 June 2026
The Cassai Life Atlas discoveries build on a decade's worth of surveys led by the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project within the Okavango and Lungwevungu headwaters, which uncovered a combined total of over 70 species confirmed new to science, according to The Wilderness Project.
—
Bailey Richards,
PEOPLE,
3 June 2026
The headwaters of the Yadkin River were not located in the area of heaviest rainfall and the threat for flooding has ended there.
—
Nc Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
27 May 2026
From its headwaters high in the Oakland Hills throught the city's Fruitvale District to where the waters eventually empty into the Oakland Estuary and San Francisco Bay, Sausal Creek is a historic treasure.
—
Molly McCrea,
CBS News,
8 May 2026
Already primed for catastrophe, townspeople’s discovery that developers had quietly targeted Acton for multiple battery projects stoked fears of industrial blight, fire and contamination of residential water wells and the nearby headwaters of Southern California’s last free-flowing river.
—
Bloomberg,
Oc Register,
23 Apr. 2026
Now, Hall and Hall is marketing the 1,500-acre Spring Creek Ranch, a marquee holding at the headwaters of the renowned Fall River.
—
David Caraccio,
Sacbee.com,
3 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for headwaters
Noun
-
The property features over a mile of frontage along Fall River and controls two of the river’s primary spring-fed tributaries — Spring Creek and Lava Creek, according to Hall and Hall.
-
For more precise information, Three Rivers Waterkeeper, a nonprofit that helps protect and restore the water quality of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers and their surrounding watersheds, samples the rivers and tributaries weekly each summer as part of its Swim Guide program.
Noun
-
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency cited a military source as saying today that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, and that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy has not issued permission for any vessels to transit until further notice.
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The agent can tell the planner where the source data came from, which parameters the calculation was based on, the decision-tree logic, and, for the mathematically minded, even the formula.
Cite this Entry
“Headwaters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/headwaters. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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