- estuary
- The wide mouth of a tidal stream; a bay or inlet.
Ballentine's law dictionary. Anderson, W.S.. 1998.
estuary
Look at other dictionaries:
Estuary — Es tu*a*ry, a. Belonging to, or formed in, an estuary; as, estuary strata. Lyell. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Estuary — Es tu*a*ry, n.; pl. {Estuaries}. [L. aestuarium, from aestuare to surge. See {Estuate}.] [Written also {[ae]stuary}.] 1. A place where water boils up; a spring that wells forth. [Obs.] Boyle. [1913 Webster] 2. A passage, as the mouth of a river… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
estuary — 1530s, from L. aestuarium a tidal marsh or opening, from aestus boiling (of the sea), tide, heat, from PIE *aidh to burn (see EDIFICE (Cf. edifice)). Related: Estuaries; estuarine … Etymology dictionary
estuary — [n] mouth arm, creek, firth, fjord, inlet, tidewater, waterway; concepts 509,514 … New thesaurus
estuary — ► NOUN (pl. estuaries) ▪ the tidal mouth of a large river. DERIVATIVES estuarine adjective. ORIGIN Latin aestuarium tidal part of a shore , from aestus tide … English terms dictionary
estuary — [es′tyo͞o er΄ē, es′cho͞oer ē] n. pl. estuaries [L aestuarium < aestus, the tide, orig., a boiling, akin to aestas, summer heat: see ESTIVAL] an inlet or arm of the sea; esp., the lower portion or wide mouth of a river, where the salty tide… … English World dictionary
Estuary — An estuary is a semi enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. [Pritchard, D. W. (1967) What is an estuary: physical viewpoint . p. 3 ndash;5 in: G. H. Lauf… … Wikipedia
estuary — estuarial /es chooh air ee euhl/, adj. /es chooh er ee/, n., pl. estuaries. 1. that part of the mouth or lower course of a river in which the river s current meets the sea s tide. 2. an arm or inlet of the sea at the lower end of a river. [1530… … Universalium
estuary — [[t]e̱stʃʊri, AM e̱stʃueri[/t]] estuaries N COUNT: oft in names after n An estuary is the wide part of a river where it joins the sea. ...naval maneouvres in the Clyde estuary … English dictionary
estuary — UK [ˈestjuərɪ] / US [ˈestʃuˌerɪ] noun [countable] Word forms estuary : singular estuary plural estuaries the part of a large river where it becomes wide and flows into the sea … English dictionary
estuary — es|tu|a|ry [ˈestʃuəri, tʃəri US tʃueri] n plural estuaries [Date: 1500 1600; : Latin; Origin: aestuarium, from aestus boiling, tide ] the wide part of a river where it goes into the sea ▪ the Thames estuary … Dictionary of contemporary English
