Meanings
plural riverbeds · alternative river bed · alternative river-bed
- geographyThe path where a river runs, or where a river once ran; the bottom earthen part of a river, not including the riverbanks.
Near-synonyms: streambed, creekbed
3 more examples
The Hang En tour involves a difficult daylong trek over limestone mountain paths and along riverbeds to the remote indigenous village of Ban Doong.
2014 October 31, David W. Lloyd, “Deep in Vietnam, Exploring a Colossal Cave”, in The New York TimesDetailed laser surveys carried out by Network Rail revealed that fast-flowing water on the River Eden has caused parts of the riverbed to wash away, posing a risk to the viaduct foundations.
2021 September 8, “Network News: West Coast Main Line viaducts reinforced by underwater concrete”, in RAIL, number 939, page 10Potential signs of microbial life were found in a rock sample collected by the rover in 2024 from an ancient dry riverbed on Mars' Jezero Crater -- an area of rocky outcrops on the edges the Neretva Vallis, a river valley carved by water rushing to the canyon billions of years ago, NASA officials announced in a press conference on Wednesday.
2025 September 11, Matthew Glasser, Julia Jacobo, “Rock found on Mars could be evidence of ancient life, NASA says”, in ABC NewsSynonyms: river bottom, streambed, creekbed
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe path where a river runs, or where a river once ran; the bottom earthen part of a river, not including the riverbanks.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From river + bed. Compare Dutch rivierbedding (“riverbed”), German Flussbett (“riverbed”), Swedish flodbädd (“riverbed”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian кори́то
- кори́то (koríto)a river bottom
Catalan buc, llit
- buca river bottom
- llita river bottom
Chinese Mandarin 河床, 河槽
- 河床 (héchuáng)a river bottom
- 河槽 (hécáo)a river bottom
Czech řečiště
- řečištěa river bottom
Dutch rivierbedding, rivierbed
- rivierbeddinga river bottom
- rivierbeda river bottom
Finnish uoma, joenuoma
- uomaa river bottom
- joenuomaa river bottom
French lit de rivière
- lit de rivièrea river bottom
German Flussbett
- Flussbetta river bottom
Hungarian folyómeder
- folyómedera river bottom
Italian alveo, letto
- alveoa river bottom
- lettoa river bottom
- gretoa river bottom
Japanese 河床, 川底
- 河床 (kashō)a river bottom
- 川底 (kawazoko)a river bottom
Korean 하상
- 하상 (hasang)a river bottom
Māori whaiawa, kūkūpango
- whaiawaa river bottom
- kūkūpangoa river bottom
- whakatakerea river bottom
- takerea river bottom
Polish koryto
- korytoa river bottom
Portuguese leito
- leitoa river bottom
Romanian albie
- albiea river bottom
Russian ру́сло
- ру́сло (rúslo)a river bottom
Slovak koryto
- korytoa river bottom
Spanish cauce, lecho
- caucea river bottom
- lechoa river bottom
Swedish flodbädd
- flodbädda river bottom
Turkish mecra, yatak
- mecraa river bottom
- yataka river bottom
- akaka river bottom
Ukrainian русло́, рі́чище
- русло́ (rusló)a river bottom
- рі́чище (ríčyšče)a river bottom
- кори́то (korýto)a river bottom
Cite this entry
riverbed. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/riverbed
“riverbed.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/riverbed. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “riverbed,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/riverbed.
Source: riverbed on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.