/ˈɹɪvɚ/, /ˈɹɪvə/
OriginFrom Middle English ryver, from Anglo-Norman rivere, from Early Medieval Latin rīpāria (“littoral, riverbank”), from Latin rīpārius (“of a riverbank”), from Latin rīpa (“river bank”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reyp- (“to scratch, tear, cut”). Unrelated to Latin rīvus (“stream”) (whence rival, derive). Doublet of riviera and rivière. Displaced native Old English ēa.
- A large and often winding stream which drains a land mass, carrying water down from higher areas to a lower point, oftentimes ending in another body of water, such as an ocean or in an inland sea.
“Occasionally rivers overflow their banks and cause floods.”
“By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spell-bound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still”
“Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads,”
- Any large flow of a liquid in a single body.
- The last card dealt in a hand.
“He called instantly but was too ashamed to show until the river.”
- A visually undesirable effect of white space running down a page, caused by spaces between words on consecutive lines happening to coincide.
- One who rives or splits.
- 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.”
- countable, uncountableA unisex given name.
“Wash: Little River gets more colorful by the moment. What'll she do next?
Zoe: Either blow us all up or rub soup in our hair. It's a toss-up.
Wash: I hope she does the soup thing, it's always a hoot a”
“The Doctor: Oh, this is my friend River. Nice hair, clever, and has her own gun. And unlike me, she really doesn't mind shooting people. I shouldn't like that. Kinda do, a bit.”
“Apparently, early in the day, a journalist had decided to bring up his brother River Phoenix's death in his interview, which threw him off and trainwrecked the day for everyone, including me.”
- countable, rare, uncountableA surname.
- countable, uncountableA suburban village and civil parish in Dover district, Kent, England (OS grid ref TR2943).
- countable, uncountableA hamlet in Tillington parish, Chichester district, West Sussex, England (OS grid ref SU9322).
- countable, uncountableA township in Red Lake County, Minnesota, United States.
Formsrivers(plural) · rivers(present, singular, third-person) · rivering(participle, present) · rivered(participle, past) · rivered(past) · Rivers(plural)