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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 Jay Roberts, the CEO of Prosper Group, said building on the river gives residents access to the water, as well as Brickell’s shops, restaurants and office buildings. — Catherine Odom, Miami Herald, 16 Sep. 2026 Broad rivers formed by the gentle joining of their tributaries, too numerous to count. — Supriya Lopez Pillai, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026 The river that provides a livelihood for fishermen like Carlos is also part of a vast transportation network connecting Argentina's agricultural interior to international markets. — Sebastián López Brach, The Dial, 15 Sep. 2026 Staying safe from alligators in Florida Alligators have inhabited Florida's marshes, swamps, rivers and lakes for centuries and are found in all of Florida's 67 counties. — Steven Yablonski, CBS News, 15 Sep. 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
  • Nothing was mistaken at the inaugural Cartier Cinema Club dinner held at Venice’s Gritti Palace, where Chazelle’s La La Land was honored with dinner on the canal overlooking the Basilica della Salute.
    — Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 5 Sep. 2026
  • The road’s construction created a push for internal improvements in the early republic and opened the era of canal and road construction throughout the nation.
    — Abby Price, Travel + Leisure, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of canal
Noun
  • Titcomb said Ravel is accelerating relationships with waste suppliers, fiber producers, yarn manufacturers and brands, with the goal of connecting them around the same material stream.
    — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 17 Sep. 2026
  • There’s no end to the constant stream of offshoots, including doomgaze, grunge-gaze, twang-gaze, and surf-gaze.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of stream
Noun
  • As Iran’s hard-line regime has given way to an even harder-line one, the Administration has effectively ceded control of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most significant waterways.
    — Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Once that waterway closed, Saudi Arabia began re-routing crude along its East-to-West pipeline and unloading barrels at the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
    — Anna Cooban, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of waterway
Noun
  • Technology analysts and traders are not buying the flood of warnings about the dangers of artificial intelligence and the need to slow down development that have recently come from frontier model platforms.
    — Tobias Burns, CNBC, 14 Sep. 2026
  • In one scene, the couple turns up the music while the sound of ambulance sirens floods the streets.
    — Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of flood
Noun
  • Madly sentient guts spill from the sitter’s back in swollen rivulets.
    — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 15 July 2026
  • Our beach quickly turned into a morass of clay, cut through by dozens of fast-flowing rivulets.
    — John Todd, Outdoor Life, 9 July 2026
Definition of rivulet
Noun
  • One of those tides came in while Steinbach was at the far end of the island shooting a sunset.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The committee had been on hold all year and was expected to stay there, until the tide began turning toward a hike in late August.
    — Jeff Cox, CNBC, 16 Sep. 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 20 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on river

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about river

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