Definitions for river
ˈrɪv ərriv·er

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.5 / 2 votes

1. rivernoun

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

   "the river was navigable for 50 miles"

WiktionaryRate this definition:2.6 / 5 votes

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 DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. River

   A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater stream, flowing on the surface or inside underground caves towards another waterbody at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, sea, bay, lake, wetland or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground or becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water. Small rivers can be referred to using names such as creek, brook, rivulet and rill. There are no official definitions for the generic term river as applied to geographic features, although in some countries or communities a stream is defined by its size. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; examples are "run" in some parts of 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 an important part of the water cycle. Water from a drainage basin generally collects into a river through surface runoff from precipitation, meltwater released from natural ice and snowpacks, and other underground sources such as groundwater recharge and springs. Rivers are often considered major features within a landscape; however, they actually only cover around 0.1% of the land on Earth. Rivers are significant to mankind since many human settlements and civilizations are built around sizeable rivers and streams. Most of the major cities of the world are situated on the banks of rivers, as they are (or were) depended upon as a vital source of drinking water, for food supply via fishing and agricultural irrigation, for shipping, as natural borders and/or defensive terrains, as a source of hydropower to drive machinery or generate electricity, for bathing, and as a means of disposing of waste. In the pre-industrial era, larger rivers were a major obstacle to movement of people, goods, and armies across regions. Towns often developed at the few locations suitable for fording, to build bridges or to support ports, and many major cities such as London are located at the narrowest and most reliable site at which a river could be crossed via bridges or ferries.In Earth science disciplines, potamology is the scientific study of rivers, while limnology is the study of inland waters in general.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. river

   A river is a large, natural flowing watercourse, usually formed by the accumulation of water from precipitation, such as rain or snowmelt, that typically moves towards a sea, ocean, lake, or another river.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:4.0 / 2 votes

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.]

WikidataRate this definition:3.0 / 4 votes

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 DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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 ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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 ResourcesRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. river

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

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. RIVER

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, River is ranked #26313 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The River surname appeared 928 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname River.
   
   52.3% or 486 total occurrences were White.
   28.7% or 267 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   12.2% or 114 total occurrences were Black.
   2.8% or 26 total occurrences were Asian.
   2.6% or 25 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   1% or 10 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

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

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

1. 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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. Andre Borschberg:

   All morning, when I was over the Hudson River I felt like a 3-year old kid looking at a Christmas tree, it was so beautiful.

2. Noor Mohammad:

   After being tortured, the Iranian soldiers threw all of us in the Harirud river.

3. John Arway:

   As we continue to study the river, we find young-of-year and now adult bass with sores, lesions and more recently a cancerous tumor, all of which continue to negatively impact population levels and recreational fishing, if we do not act to address the water quality issues in the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania risks losing what is left of what was once considered a world-class smallmouth bass fishery.

4. Japanese Proverb, Also quoted in the movie Rising Sun:

   If you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy float by.

5. Gustave Flaubert:

   That man has missed something who has never left a brothel at sunrise feeling like throwing himself into the river out of pure disgust.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=river
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/River
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=river
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/river
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=river
8. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=river
9. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
   https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html
10. ^ Usage in printed sources
    https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=river