spillway

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 spillway Occasionally, the Army Corps will open spillways and floodways that are designed to divert floodwaters during extreme weather events. Amy Graff, New York Times, 3 May 2025 Most recently, fears that the Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway would fail caused more than 180,000 people to evacuate. Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 27 Apr. 2025 The spillway was built in 1931 to remove pressure on the levees protecting New Orleans by diverting up to 250,000 cubic feet of fresh water per second into Lake Pontchartrain’s brackish waters. Amy Graff, New York Times, 3 May 2025 The South Florida Water Management District is working with the Army Corps of Engineer and county officials on an expensive plan to put in 20 new pumps and raise spillway gates. Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 7 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for spillway
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spillway
Noun
  • During an extreme-rainfall event, the force of the water cascading down these straightened sluices meets with no resistance from meanders, and a river often has no way of reaching its floodplains—frequently now developed—which could absorb and store some runoff.
    John Seabrook, New Yorker, 21 July 2025
  • The focus is on the Bangs Lake outfall control structure, which is currently maintained by manually making adjustments to the sluice gate.
    Gregory Harutunian, Chicago Tribune, 14 June 2025
Noun
  • 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
  • In 2020, the county passed two ordinances to tighten rules on building in high-risk areas and prevent development in floodways.
    Laura Sullivan, NPR, 9 July 2025
Noun
  • Wilson’s New Freedom would open the sluiceways of competition by slashing tariffs, strengthening anti-trust laws and increasing access to credit.
    Richard Norton Smith, WSJ, 19 Apr. 2018
  • The town has opened the floodgate to the dam draining the pond behind it and allowing Roaring Brook to flow freely downstream through a sluiceway.
    Peter Marteka, Courant Community, 12 Apr. 2018

Cite this Entry

“Spillway.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spillway. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.

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