as in canal
an open man-made passageway for water
the Erie Canal was the first watercourse to connect the Hudson River with the Great Lakes
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Recent Examples of watercourse
The Marin Municipal Water District completed Kent Lake in 1954 by enlarging a section of Lagunitas Creek’s watercourse and damming the creek’s flow.
—
Jim Holden, The Mercury News, 3 Sep. 2024
The salmon were meant to be released in the Imnaha River, a 77-mile long watercourse in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.
—Zoe Sottile, CNN, 7 Apr. 2024
Living in White Plains, N.Y., in the 1980s, Mrs. Wallace galvanized a broad campaign to rescue the river, at the time an inaccessible 23-mile watercourse that was home to more flotsam, like the carcasses of junked cars and rusted refrigerators, than fauna.
—Sam Roberts, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2024
But those boundaries had never stopped moving before or since -- sometimes for good reason, such as facilitating the movements of nomads or access to a watercourse.
—Jérôme Tubiana, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2013
See All Example Sentences for watercourse
Jim Holden, The Mercury News, 3 Sep. 2024
The salmon were meant to be released in the Imnaha River, a 77-mile long watercourse in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.
—Zoe Sottile, CNN, 7 Apr. 2024
Living in White Plains, N.Y., in the 1980s, Mrs. Wallace galvanized a broad campaign to rescue the river, at the time an inaccessible 23-mile watercourse that was home to more flotsam, like the carcasses of junked cars and rusted refrigerators, than fauna.
—Sam Roberts, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2024
But those boundaries had never stopped moving before or since -- sometimes for good reason, such as facilitating the movements of nomads or access to a watercourse.
—Jérôme Tubiana, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2013
See All Example Sentences for watercourse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for watercourse
Noun
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The Broward County Sheriff's Office later found his body inside his vehicle in a nearby canal.—
Abby Dodge,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
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Rainfall, irrigation and drainage can transport phosphorus – either dissolved in water or attached to eroded soil particles – into nearby canals, streams, rivers and lakes.—
Dinesh Phuyal,
The Conversation,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The update will set rules for the Sacramento River and the rest of the Delta, where pumps operated by state and federal agencies send water flowing in aqueducts to farmlands and cities.—
Ian James,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Jan. 2026
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Ancient Origins reported that the researchers analyzed the carbonate incrustations, or the buildup in the city’s pipes, as well as deposits in the aqueducts and water towers built later on.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
18 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Watercourse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watercourse. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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