estuary

  • 1Estuary — Es tu*a*ry, a. Belonging to, or formed in, an estuary; as, estuary strata. Lyell. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2Estuary — 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

  • 3estuary — 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

  • 4estuary — [n] mouth arm, creek, firth, fjord, inlet, tidewater, waterway; concepts 509,514 …

    New thesaurus

  • 5estuary — ► 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

  • 6estuary — [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

  • 7Estuary — 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

  • 8estuary — 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

  • 9estuary — [[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

  • 10estuary — 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