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.

2. rivernoun

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

3. rivernoun

   The last card dealt in a hand.

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

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

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Rivernoun

   A land current of water bigger than a brook.

   Etymology: riviere, Fr. rivus, Lat.

   It is a most beautiful country, being stored throughout with many goodly rivers, replenished with all sorts of fish. Edmund Spenser.

   The first of these rivers has been celebrated by the Latin poets for the gentleness of its course, as the other for its rapidity. Joseph Addison, Remarks on Italy.

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

1. Rivernoun

   one who rives or splits

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

3. Rivernoun

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

4. Riververb

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

5. 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

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. LaToya Cantrell:

   Last night's tragic news on the recovery of the body of 14-year-old Brandy Wilson from the Mississippi River breaks my heart.

2. Blue Sky primary school headteacher:

   We analysed the water around, and we have a river like 50 metres far from here, and we saw that it is not healthy, that water. Then we took water from the government supply, but we also saw that it was not going to be healthy and we want the best things for our kids, so we decided to buy the filter.

3. Nikita Khrushchev:

   Politicians are the same the world over: they promise to build a bridge even when there is no river.

4. Brad Udall:

   Colorado River's very significant, colorado River's something that those of us in the climate community have been worried about for over a decade, based on declining flows due to climate change.

5. Betsey Hazard:

   It's really the river that has us worried, they say that the river won't flood in New Orleans, but we have a 5-year-old and a 10-month-old, and we don't want to take any chances.

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