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
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
The Miami River, the five-mile watercourse that flows from Miami International Airport down to Biscayne Bay, also holds many chapters of Miami’s history on its banks.
—Miami Staff, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024
Recently surging watercourses have mellowed to tenable levels.
—Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2023
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
Sam Roberts, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2024
The Miami River, the five-mile watercourse that flows from Miami International Airport down to Biscayne Bay, also holds many chapters of Miami’s history on its banks.
—Miami Staff, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024
Recently surging watercourses have mellowed to tenable levels.
—Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2023
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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In the center of it is a drainage canal in a wide valley that is designed to hold and safely disperse water.—
Matthew Adams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
8 Sep. 2025
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Resembling a minnow near the surface of the water, these rental boats come with easy instructions for beginners who are unfamiliar with how to operate the canal’s lock system along the way.—
Jason Mastrodonato,
Mercury News,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Pipes are painted like tree trunks, flumes are supported by faux crumbling aqueducts, waterfalls gush through holes in the hulls of boats and sails hang overhead to protect from the searing sun.—
Caroline Reid,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
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The largest share of water consumed throughout San Diego County is imported by aqueducts from outside the county.—
Phil Diehl,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Watercourse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watercourse. Accessed 15 Sep. 2025.
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