Definitions for river
ˈrɪv ərriv·er

Princeton's WordNet(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. rivernoun

   a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)

   "the river was navigable for 50 miles"

Wiktionary(2.60 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. rivernoun

   A large and often winding stream which drains a land mass, carrying water down from higher areas to a lower point, ending at an ocean or in an inland sea. Occasionally rivers overflow their banks and cause floods.

   Etymology: From riviere, from *, from riparius, from riparia, from ripa, from rei-.

2. rivernoun

   Any large flow of a liquid in a single body (e.g., 'a river of blood').

   Etymology: From riviere, from *, from riparius, from riparia, from ripa, from rei-.

3. rivernoun

   The last card dealt in a hand.

   Etymology: From riviere, from *, from riparius, from riparia, from ripa, from rei-.

4. riververb

   To improve one's hand to beat another player on the final card in a poker game.

   Johnny rivered me by drawing that Ace of spades

   Etymology: From riviere, from *, from riparius, from riparia, from ripa, from rei-.

Webster Dictionary(4.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Rivernoun

   one who rives or splits

   Etymology: [F. rivre a river, LL. riparia river, bank of a river, fr. L. riparius belonging to a bank or shore, fr. ripa a bank or shore; of uncertain origin. Cf. Arrive, Riparian.]

2. Rivernoun

   a large stream of water flowing in a bed or channel and emptying into the ocean, a sea, a lake, or another stream; a stream larger than a rivulet or brook

   Etymology: [F. rivre a river, LL. riparia river, bank of a river, fr. L. riparius belonging to a bank or shore, fr. ripa a bank or shore; of uncertain origin. Cf. Arrive, Riparian.]

3. Rivernoun

   fig.: A large stream; copious flow; abundance; as, rivers of blood; rivers of oil

   Etymology: [F. rivre a river, LL. riparia river, bank of a river, fr. L. riparius belonging to a bank or shore, fr. ripa a bank or shore; of uncertain origin. Cf. Arrive, Riparian.]

4. Riververb

   to hawk by the side of a river; to fly hawks at river fowl

   Etymology: [F. rivre a river, LL. riparia river, bank of a river, fr. L. riparius belonging to a bank or shore, fr. ripa a bank or shore; of uncertain origin. Cf. Arrive, Riparian.]

Freebase(3.00 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

1. River

   A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely at the end of its course, and does not reach another body of water. Small rivers may be called by several other names, including stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill. There are no official definitions for generic terms, such as river, as applied to geographic features, although in some countries or communities a stream may be defined by its size. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; examples are "run" in the United States, "burn" in Scotland and northeast England, and "beck" in northern England. Sometimes a river is defined as being larger than a creek, but not always: the language is vague. Rivers are part of the hydrological cycle. Water generally collects in a river from precipitation through a drainage basin from surface runoff and other sources such as groundwater recharge, springs, and the release of stored water in natural ice and snowpacks. Potamology is the scientific study of rivers while limnology is the study of inland waters in general.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. River

   riv′ėr, n. a large running stream of water.—adj. Riv′erain, riparian.—ns. Riv′er-bank, the bank of a river; Riv′er-bās′in, the whole region drained by a river and its affluents; Riv′er-bed, the channel in which a river flows; Riv′er-birch, the red birch; Riv′er-bott′om, the alluvial land along the margin of a river; Riv′er-carp, the common carp; Riv′er-chub, the horny-head or jerker; Riv′er-course, the bed of a river; Riv′er-crab, a fresh-water crab; Riv′er-craft, small vessels which ply on rivers; Riv′er-cray′fish, a crayfish proper; Riv′er-dol′phin, a Gangetic dolphin; Riv′er-drag′on (Milt.), a crocodile; Riv′er-duck, a fresh-water duck; Riv′eret, Riv′erling, a small river; Riv′er-flat, alluvial land along a river; Riv′er-god, the tutelary deity of a river; Riv′er-head, the spring of a river; Riv′er-hog, the capybara; Riv′er-horse, the hippopotamus.—adj. Riv′erine, pertaining to, or resembling, a river.—ns. Riv′er-jack, the common water-snake of Europe; Riv′er-man, one who makes his livelihood by dragging the river for sunken goods; River-muss′el, a fresh-water mussel; Riv′er-ott′er, the common European otter; Riv′er-perch, a Californian surf-fish; Riv′er-pie, the water-ousel; Riv′er-shore, the shore or bank of a river; Riv′er-side, the bank of a river; Riv′er-smelt, the gudgeon; Riv′er-snail, a pond snail; Riv′er-swall′ow, the sand-martin; Riv′er-tide, the tide from the sea rising or ebbing in a river; Riv′er-tor′toise, a soft-shelled turtle; Riv′er-wall, a wall made to confine the waters of a river within definite bounds.—adj. Riv′ery, pertaining to rivers, like rivers. [Fr. rivière (It. riviera, shore, river)—Low L. riparia, a shore district—L. ripa, a bank.]

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. river

   A body of water.

   The river brings much freedom and joy to the children during the various seasons.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 17, 2020  

Suggested Resources(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. river

   Song lyrics by river -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by river on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Stream
   • Water System

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'river' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1050

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'river' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1850

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'river' in Nouns Frequency: #389

How to pronounce river?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say river in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of river in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of river in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of river in a Sentence

1. Jorge Londono:

   We are working jointly with all institutions on the worst-case scenario, which is the breaking of the dam, which would provoke a huge flood in down-river municipalities, that's a catastrophic scenario.

2. Donna Lisenby:

   The water in the Cape Fear River next to Duke's Sutton plant had twice as much arsenic in it as the toxic gray coal ash slurry spilling straight out of the pipe into the Dan River in 2014.

3. Jonathan Veitch:

   It's a race against time to prevent the spread of cholera up the river Nile, especially during the rainy season. Our priority right now is reaching the most vulnerable children who urgently need clean water and vaccinations.

4. Vikrant Parsai:

   The water from the river becomes salty when it gets into the ocean.

5. Lisa Ovifa:

   The soil is very hard and we have tried irrigating it with river water, but it has not helped, so we are surviving on bananas and cassava.

Images & Illustrations of river

Popularity rank by frequency of use