estuary

es·tu·ary

noun \ˈes-chə-ˌwer-ē, ˈesh-\

plural es·tu·ar·ies

Definition of ESTUARY

: a water passage where the tide meets a river current; especially : an arm of the sea at the lower end of a river

Examples of ESTUARY

1. <the city sits on the shores of a deep estuary where the Hudson River meets the Atlantic Ocean>

Origin of ESTUARY

Latin aestuarium, from aestus boiling, tide; akin to Latin aestas summer — more at edify

First Known Use: 1538

Related to ESTUARY

Synonyms: arm, bay, bight, cove, creek [chiefly British], embayment, gulf, firth, fjord (also fiord), inlet, loch [Scottish]

Related Words: harbor, port, road(s), roadstead; narrow, sound, strait; bayou; backwater, slough (also slew or slue)

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Other Geology Terms

anthracite, boulder, cwm, erratic, igneous, intrusive, mesa, sedimentary, silt, swale

Rhymes with ESTUARY

actuary, adversary, airy-fairy, ancillary, antiquary, apiary, arbitrary, aviary, axillary, bacillary, beriberi, bestiary, biliary, black raspberry, Bloody Mary, boysenberry, breviary, budgetary, calamari, calamary, candleberry, Canterbury, capillary, carpellary, cassowary, catenary, cautionary, cavitary, cemetery, centenary, certiorari, checkerberry, chinaberry, cometary, commentary, commissary, condottiere, coralberry, corollary, coronary, culinary, customary, dictionary, dietary, dignitary, dromedary, dysentery, elderberry, emissary, farkleberry, February, formulary, fragmentary, fritillary, functionary, funerary, honorary, huckleberry, intermarry, janissary, January, lamasery, lapidary, lectionary, legendary, legionary, lingonberry, literary, loganberry, luminary, mammillary, mandatary, maxillary, medullary, mercenary, miliary, military, millenary, milliary, millinery, missionary, momentary, monastery, mortuary, necessary, ordinary, ossuary, partridgeberry, pensionary, pigmentary, planetary, Pondicherry, prebendary, presbytery, pulmonary, quaternary, red mulberry, reliquary, rowanberry, salivary, salmonberry, salutary, sanctuary, sanguinary, sanitary, secondary, secretary, sedentary, seminary, silverberry, solitary, sour cherry, stationary, stationery, statuary, subcontrary, sublunary, sugarberry, sumptuary, syllabary, temporary, tertiary, thimbleberry, Tipperary, Tom and Jerry, topiary, tributary, tutelary, Typhoid Mary, unitary, urinary, vestiary, Virgin Mary, visionary, voluntary, vulnerary, Waterbury, whortleberry, winterberry