river

plural rivers

1. 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.

   2 more examples

   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 chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.

   1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC

   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, bridges, hotels and even whole villages. Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge.

   2013 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28

2. Any large flow of a liquid in a single body.

   a river of blood

3. card gamesThe last card dealt in a hand.

   He called instantly but was too ashamed to show until the river.

   2017, Nathan Schwiethale, Ace High: Mastering Low Stakes Poker Cash Games, page 70

4. mediaA visually undesirable effect of white space running down a page, caused by spaces between words on consecutive lines happening to coincide.

present singular third person rivers · participle present rivering · participle past rivered · past rivered

1. card gamesTo 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.

plural rivers

1. One who rives or splits.

plural Rivers

1. countableuncountableA unisex given name.

   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.

   2011 April 30, Steven Moffat, Doctor Who, series 6, episode 2, Day of the Moon

   2 more examples

   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 and we don't all die from it.

   2002 December 13, Joss Whedon, Firefly, season 1, episode 14, Objects in Space

   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.

   2017, Carrie Keagan, Dibs Baer, Everybody Curses, I Swear!: Uncensored Tales from the Hollywood Trenches, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 131

2. countablerareuncountableA surname.
3. A place name:
   1. countableuncountableA suburban village and civil parish in Dover district, Kent, England (OS grid ref TR2943).
   2. countableuncountableA hamlet in Tillington parish, Chichester district, West Sussex, England (OS grid ref SU9322).
   3. countableuncountableA township in Red Lake County, Minnesota, United States.