river

noun

Definition of rivernext
1
as in canal
a passageway for water A fallen tree branch was floating down the river.

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2
as in stream
an overwhelming flow or rush of something Jet streams can be thought of as giant rivers of air that circulate around the globe. He was overwhelmed by the river of new information that the document dump provided.

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Dissimilar Words

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 river Why does a hotel need an app when its keys are attached to large river rocks? — Christopher Elliott, USA Today, 10 July 2026 The Black River at Lesterville rose 8 feet in an hour, with that water working its way toward Annapolis, where river levels quickly rose. — Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 10 July 2026 The wagon trundles through gorgeous vistas before stopping at a river. — Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 10 July 2026 Dozens of people have been rescued from catastrophic flooding in southeastern Missouri, including some camping along a river that swelled to historic heights. — Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 10 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for river
Recent Examples of Synonyms for river
  1. canal
  2. stream
  3. waterway
  4. flood
  5. rivulet
  6. tide
Noun
  • Public swimming has been available for years in a canal in northeastern Paris during summer.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 July 2026
  • As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the museum offers a patriotic lens into how the canals, highways, railroads and mines that stitched this country together were built by machines born in American factories.
    — Malika Bowling, USA Today, 3 July 2026
Definition of canal
Noun
  • Friends of both Swift and the Kansas City Chiefs football star tight end began arriving mid-afternoon in a steady stream of SUVs.
    — Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 4 July 2026
  • Alaska created the fund in 1976 to turn a finite oil windfall into a lasting income stream.
    — James Broughel, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
Definition of stream
Noun
  • Hard-liners want to ensure lasting control over the waterway, which is a globally important conduit for fuel shipments and has become a critical lever in confronting the West.
    — Jon Gambrell, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
  • But a growing number of ships are using a route close to the Omani coast instead, threatening Iran’s leverage over the waterway.
    — Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 9 July 2026
Definition of waterway
Noun
  • Meanwhile, Dondi’s son and son-in-law kept combing the flood area for objects, as did her husband, who also transported bins of things back to the warehouse and coached volunteers.
    — Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
  • And in 1993, after many more floods, the Mississippi swelled again, this time with memorable cruelty.
    — Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
Definition of flood
Noun
  • Our beach quickly turned into a morass of clay, cut through by dozens of fast-flowing rivulets.
    — John Todd, Outdoor Life, 9 July 2026
  • There were new sunspots and rivulet lines over her face, like an aerial map.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 June 2026
Definition of rivulet
Noun
  • The gore comes like a tide, shockingly for a mainstream studio wide release.
    — Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026
  • Oceanfront has long been treated as the aristocrat of waterfront living, prized for its horizon lines, lull of the tide and powerful symbolism of standing where land gives way.
    — Spencer Elliott, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
Definition of tide

Phrases Containing river

Browse Nearby Words

riven
river
riverbank
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Cite this Entry

“River.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/river. Accessed 11 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on river

Nglish: Translation of river for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about river

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