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单词 river
释义

rivern.1

Brit. /ˈrɪvə/, U.S. /ˈrɪvər/
Forms:

α. Middle English riuyere, Middle English riveer, Middle English ryuare, Middle English ryueer, Middle English ryuire, Middle English ryuyre, Middle English ryveer, Middle English ryvere, Middle English 1600s rivere, Middle English–1500s ryuere, Middle English–1600s riuer, Middle English–1600s riuere, Middle English–1600s ryuer, Middle English–1600s ryver, Middle English– river, late Middle English ryuerers (plural, transmission error), 1800s rivr (U.S., nonstandard); U.S. regional 1800s ruvver, 1800s– ribber (in African-American usage), 1900s– ribbuh (in African-American usage); Scottish pre-1700 riuer, pre-1700 riuere, pre-1700 riuieier, pre-1700 rivair, pre-1700 rivar, pre-1700 riveir, pre-1700 rivere, pre-1700 rivir, pre-1700 riwer, pre-1700 riwir, pre-1700 ryueir, pre-1700 ryuer, pre-1700 ryuere, pre-1700 ryuir, pre-1700 ryvar, pre-1700 ryveir, pre-1700 ryver, pre-1700 ryvere, pre-1700 ryvir, pre-1700 rywar, pre-1700 ryware, pre-1700 rywer, pre-1700 rywere, pre-1700 rywir, pre-1700 1700s– river.

β. Middle English reuare, Middle English reuere, Middle English reuir, Middle English reuire, Middle English reuyr, Middle English revyr, Middle English rewere, Middle English–1500s reuer, Middle English–1500s revere, Middle English–1500s (1600s–1700s North American) rever, late Middle English reyuere, 1700s revor (North American); Scottish pre-1700 rawerais (plural), pre-1700 reauer, pre-1700 reiver, pre-1700 reuar, pre-1700 reueir, pre-1700 reueire, pre-1700 reuer, pre-1700 reuier, pre-1700 reuir, pre-1700 reuire, pre-1700 revair, pre-1700 revar, pre-1700 revare, pre-1700 reveir, pre-1700 reveire, pre-1700 rever, pre-1700 revere, pre-1700 revir, pre-1700 rewar, pre-1700 reware, pre-1700 rewear, pre-1700 reweir, pre-1700 rewer, pre-1700 rewere, pre-1700 rewier, pre-1700 rewir; N.E.D. (1909) also records a form late Middle English revyre.

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymons: French river, riviere.
Etymology: < Anglo-Norman rivere, river, riveir, rivier, rivre, revere, rievere, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French riviere (French rivière ) large natural stream of water flowing in a channel to the sea, a lake, or another stream (end of the 11th cent. in a gloss in Rashi), riverbank, meadowland (early 12th cent.), the practice of hunting waterfowl (c1135 in aler en riviere to go fowling), a river or its banks as grounds suitable for fowling (late 12th cent.), coast, seashore (c1265; compare sense 4, and also later Riviera n.) < post-classical Latin riparia land beside a river (9th cent.), riverbank (10th cent.), river (frequently from 13th cent. in British sources), place (on a riverbank) for fowling (from 13th cent. in British sources), use as noun of feminine of classical Latin rīpārius (see riparious adj.). Compare Old Occitan ribera , ribeira , ribiera , etc. (12th cent.), Catalan ribera riverbank, seashore, valley, river (1150), Spanish ribera riverbank, seashore (11th cent.; the Spanish word for ‘river, stream’ is río rive n.3), Portuguese ribeira riverbank, stream (13th cent.; compare post-classical Latin riparia (1021 in a Portuguese source), and also ribeiro (masculine noun) brook, stream (15th cent.)), Italian riviera coast, shore (13th cent.), (formerly also) watercourse, stream (beginning of the 14th cent.); also post-classical Latin rivera , riveria riverbank (from 12th cent. in British sources), river, place (on a riverbank) for fowling (frequently from 12th cent. in British sources). Compare later ripary n.The development of the meaning ‘stream, watercourse’ in French is usually ascribed to early semantic and formal association of riviere with Old French riu , rieu , ru , ri , etc., stream, brook (c1165; < classical Latin rīvus rive n.3, with regular loss of intervocalic -v- ). However, it is possible that the meaning ‘stream, watercourse’ reflects an earlier development in post-classical Latin: compare occurrence of classical Latin rīpa riverbank (see ripa n.2) in the sense ‘river, stream’ in c640, and compare also very rare occurrence of its reflex Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French rive riverbank (c1100: see rive n.1) in the meaning ‘stream, watercourse’ (12th cent. in Anglo-Norman in an isolated attestation). The transferred sense ‘a large quantity of a flowing substance’ (sense 3b) is not recorded by dictionaries of French until considerably later than in English (a1711 in rivières de sang rivers of blood). In sense 4 after Middle French, French la Rivière de Gênes and its probable model, Italian la riviera di Genova (for both, see Riviera n.). The French word was also borrowed into other Germanic languages. Compare Middle Dutch reviere, riviere (masculine and feminine), rivier (neuter) river, stream, riverbank (especially as hunting grounds for fowling; Dutch rivier river, stream; Dutch revier district, (specifically) hunting grounds (1734), represents an independent later reborrowing from German Revier, in same sense), Middle Low German revēr, revēre, revīr, rivēr, rivīr river, stream, watercourse, Middle High German revyr, rifiere, rifir, rivier, rivēre, riviere (feminine and neuter) watercourse, stream, riverbank, district, region, (also specifically) grounds suitable for fowling (German Revier, †Refier, †Rivier (neuter) watercourse, stream, brook (obsolete in this sense after 17th cent.), (now only) hunting grounds, (hence by extension) district, area of responsibility), and also (probably via Middle Low German) Swedish revir coast, shore, stream, (now only) district, area, (specifically) hunting grounds (1644; c1613 as †rever; also †revir, †revier, †rivier, etc.), Old Danish ryuer, røfuære stream, watercourse (Danish revir, †revier, †rever, †river district, area, (specifically) hunting grounds, (now rare and only in nautical use) watercourse). Attested earlier in surnames, as Gozelinus Riuere (1086; 1084 as Gozelinus de Lariuera), Walter de la Rivere (c1150), Johannes de la Riviere (1166), Willelmus de la Rivere (1200), etc., although the early examples certainly, and the later probably, reflect the Anglo-Norman rather than the Middle English word.
1.
a. A large natural stream of water flowing in a channel to the sea, a lake, or another, usually larger, stream of the same kind.In early use, esp. in the phrase upon the river (see Phrases 1), probably also with the sense ‘riverbank’, which is attested in Old French and post-classical Latin (see etymology), although many examples clearly still have the water as the primary referent (see, e.g., quot. c1450 at α. ). See also sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > [noun] > river
floodc825
streamc875
eaeOE
water streamOE
flumec1175
fleamc1300
riverc1300
currentc1380
reea1500
ford1563
fluent1598
draught1601
nymph1605
amnic1623
flux1637
nullah1656
R1692
currency1758
silent highway1841
α.
c1300 Childhood Jesus (Laud) l. 307 in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1875) 1st Ser. 12 (MED) Huy wenden forth to þe Riuer, þare huy founden þat watur cler.
c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 1884 (MED) Þe leuedi was sett onland To play bi þe riuere.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 1013 In the valleie, Wher thilke rivere..made his cours.
c1450 (c1400) Cuckoo & Nightingale (Fairf.) (1975) l. 81 (MED) The ryver that I sat vpon, Hit made such a noyse as hit ronne.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) xiv. 337 A gret rywer he gert him pas.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Bviv Than shall there be nother..ryuer ne fysshe, castel ne towne.
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. i. 12 As the Riuer leadeth thee to his head; shal not the head leade thee to the originall spring thereof?
1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated ii. ix. 142 All Riuers haue their first originall from the sea.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 514 A Ship by skilful Stearsman wrought Nigh Rivers mouth or Foreland. View more context for this quotation
1727 J. Gay Fables I. xxv. 85 'Tis like a rolling river, That murm'ring flows, and flows for ever!
1798 T. Pennant View of Hindoostan II. 340 The various great rivers which form so many intricated windings.
1823 R. Southey Hist. Peninsular War I. 599 The crowd still continued on both sides the river.
1842 A. Alison Hist. Europe from French Revol. X. lxxviii. 1017 The great rivers of the world have now become the highways of civilization and religion.
1880 S. Haughton Six Lect. Physical Geogr. v. 203 A river may be defined to be the surplus of rainfall over evaporation.
1921 Geogr. Jrnl. 58 328 The river was picturesque, with steep banks broken by broad gently inclined granite bassets, projecting quay-like from the banks.
1951 N. M. Gunn Well at World's End xxx. 285 The path on the off side..wound with the hill slopes above the small river.
2002 D. Danvers Watch viii. 109 We part at the corner as I turn south toward the river.
β. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 327 Whan reueres [L. flumina] wexeþ ouer mesures þey dooþ..harme.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 5922 (MED) For þe rott þat þar-on fell, Bath it stanc, reuer and well.a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) l. 3317 (MED) Y..ron to þat reuere þo, And ryȝt þere y-drownyd y fonde my page.a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 275 To eit..peirtrik and pluver, And everie fische that swowmis in rever.a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 12 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 95 I raikit till ane Reveire That ryally apperd.1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 109 God turnit the craig in fresche reueir.1599 T. Dallam Diary in J. T. Bent Early Voy. Levant (1893) i. 85 Wheare did run a rever, so bige and stifly,..that we durste not adventur to rid over it.1661 in B. D. Hicks Rec. N. & S. Hempstead, Long Island (1896) I. 99 There is..gefen to willum skaden a 6 a ker Lott..Lieng at the mell Rever neck.c1724 Rec. of Meadows in B. D. Hicks Rec. N. & S. Hempstead, Long Island (1897) II. 296 The meadow..lyeth beetwen the two main cricks or revers.1777 J. Potter Let. 4 Dec. in G. Washington Papers (2002) Revolutionary War Ser. XII. 547 Ass to the Provibility of an Attact on the City of Philadelphia with the Aid of a Bodey of Militia it is unsartain when..it would be posible to cross the Revers to Attact them.
b. In the proper names of rivers.
(a) With the proper noun immediately following river.Now chiefly in British English referring to British rivers and certain other major, historically important rivers, as the Nile, Rhine, Ganges, etc.
ΚΠ
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. xiii. v. 655 Þe ryuer Gyon hatte Nilus also.
?c1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Cambr. Ii.3.21) (1886) iii. met. x. l. 13 Alle the thinges that the Ryuer tagus yeueth yow..Or elles alle the thinges þat the Ryuer herynus y[e]ueth..ne scholde nat cleeren the lookynge of yowre thowht.
1520 Caxton's Chron. Eng., Descr. Irel. 5/1 The ryver Ban renneth out of the leke into the north ocean.
1546 T. Langley tr. P. Vergile De Invent. i. iii. 5 The Riuer Nilus, whiche for the lustye fatnesse of the slime, doeth procreat diuerse kyndes of beastes.
1592 A. Fraunce 3rd Pt. Countesse of Pembrokes Yuychurch f. 28 Iupiter and the other Gods were woont to sweare by the riuer Styx.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 127 Beyond the riuer Ganges..the people are caught with the Sun, and begin to be blackish.
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 5 It [a storm of wind] was yet so violent, that it laved water out of the River Cherwell, and cast it quite over the Bridge at Magdalen College.
1686 Philos. Trans. 1685 (Royal Soc.) 15 980 Rowed up the River Mississippi, in a Canot.
1703 W. Nicolson London Diaries 13 Jan. (1985) 168 A Bill for makeing the River Derwent in Derbyshire Navigable read a first time.
1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling ii. lxxviii. 200 The Orb..is taken in the Mouth of the River Nile in Ægypt.
1807 T. Young Course Lect. Nat. Philos. II. p. xi/1 The work of a coalheaver on the river Thames.
1892 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words I. p. vii The short stretch of the river Tweed from Carham to the sea, and the equally short stretch of the river Tyne, where it becomes the southern boundary of Northumberland.
1923 D. A. Mackenzie Myths China & Japan v. 52 Osiris was, in one of his forms, the River Nile.
1946 A. Nelson Princ. Agric. Bot. viii. 218 Rhenish tall fescue..seed is harvested on the lands adjacent to the River Rhine and invariably smells of damp or mould.
2006 Church Times 29 Dec. 24/1 The winter manifestation of the Green Man..will emerge from a boat on the River Thames to lead the annual Twelfth Night celebrations.
†(b) With of. Obsolete.The predominant style before the late 17th cent.
ΚΠ
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Summoner's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 866 Syrus..destroyed the ryuer of Gysen For that an hors of his was dreynt ther Inne.
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 5 This ryuere of Danubee is a full gret ryver.
c1480 (a1400) St. John Baptist 285 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 231 Criste..come to sancte Iohne howine to be in-to þe rywere of Iordane.
a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) iv. l. 199 Þe rywere of Ewfrate.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. xxxiii Borne at Monmouth on the Riuer of Wye.
1565 in R. G. Marsden Sel. Pleas Court Admiralty (1897) II. 55 Honnefleur and Rouen and other ports in the revere of Seine.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) ii. ii. 194 She purst vp his heart vpon the Riuer of Sidnis.
1652 M. Nedham tr. J. Selden Of Dominion of Sea 218 Those words concerning the River of Rhine.
1710 J. Chamberlayne Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia (ed. 23) ii. i. 323 It's watered with the pleasant River of Clyde.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Rivers The river of St. Lawrence..pours forth nearly as much as this.
1779 T. Forrest Voy. New Guinea 178 The bar of the river Tamantakka..makes that river's access less safe than the Pelangy's.
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy III. i. 8 The river of Forth forms a defensible line.
1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur ii. v. 113 See the sad son of Hilkiah, and him the seer of visions, by the river of Chebar!
(c) With the proper noun immediately preceding river.Uncommon before the mid-17th cent., when the style begins to develop as the predominant North American use. Now the most common use in all contexts but those outlined at sense 1b(a).
ΚΠ
c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 784 (MED) The Theban legioun..At Rodamus Ryuer was expert ther corage.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) viii. xii. 166 Nylus ryver..Hys large skyrt onbrede spred thame to ples.
1612 J. Speed Theatre of Empire of Great Brit. 2nd Index sig. Yyyyyy2v/1 Thames Riuer fortified with stakes sharpened.
1631 in Amer. Speech (1940) 15 296/2 A river called the Pocoson river.
1650 in Rec. Mass. Bay (1854) III. 188 A small hill, or iland, in the meddow on the west side of Charles Riuer.
1706 Boston News-let. 21 Jan. 2/2 New York Jan. 7th..Hudsons River was froze over and continued fast several days.
1772 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 62 398 Passenger Pigeon, Faun. Am. Sept. 11. Severn River, No 63.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 450 Paukatuck river, is an inconsiderable stream.
1804 J. Barrow Acc. Trav. Interior S. Afr. 1797–98 II. ii. 114 The city Leetakoo,..situate at the distance of sixteen days' journey beyond the Orange River.
1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians II. xxxii. 1 Before I give further account of this downward voyage, however, I must recur back for a few moments, to the Teton River, from whence I started.
1894 Proc. Linn. Soc. New S. Wales 9 513 It is the Tawarang from high up the Murray River, and other parts of N.S. Wales.
1927 Times Recorder (Zanesville, Ohio) 17 Oct. 5 A beautiful mermaid with golden tresses..disported herself on the rocks of a dangerous projecture of the Rhine river.
1943 Triumphs of Engin. 31/2 (caption) The engineering feat of arranging auxiliary water supply from the Colorado River was magnificent in both planning and execution.
2006 Philadelphia Inquirer 7 May a8/5 Relic hunters roamed Fort Powhatan on the James River.
†2. A river or its banks as a place where the sport of hawking or the practice of fowling is carried out; (by metonymy) the sport of hawking for waterfowl. made to (also for) the river: (of a hawk) trained to hunt waterfowl. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hawking > [noun]
riverc1300
hawkingc1374
falconry1818
c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) l. 230 (MED) Stiward, tak nu here Mi fundlyng for to lere Of þine mestere, of wude & of riuere.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) ii. l. 2286 (MED) Neuer on Friday to wod þou go to chace; þe riuer salle þou forsake on Friday ilka dele.
a1450 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Lamb.) (1887) i. l. 3135 (MED) He couþe of chas & of ryuere, Inow of game of here manere.
a1500 (?a1475) Guy of Warwick (Cambr. Ff.2.38) 856 (MED) Wyth howndys we wyll chace dere And wyth hawkes to the ryuere.
1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid v. Prol. 4 The wery hunter to fynd his happy pray, The falconer the riche riveir our to flene.
1615 G. Markham Countrey Contentments i. v To make your Hawk fly at fowl, which is called the flight at the River.
a1625 J. Fletcher Womans Prize iii. iii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ooooo3v/1 He must..send me..by all meanes Ten cast of Hawkes for 'th River.
1686 R. Blome Gentlemans Recreation ii. xvii. 44/2 Your Hawk being well made to the River, you should not fly her above two flights in the Evening, but feed her up although she kills not.
1735 Sportsman's Dict. I. at Gerfalcon These hawks do not fly the river, but always from the fist fly the herns, shovelers, &c.
1797 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 345 If she [sc. a hawk] be made for the river.
3.
a. figurative, esp. with a sense of unceasing or relentless movement, or of timelessness and permanence. Frequently with of.In early use chiefly in spiritual contexts.
ΚΠ
c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 196 (MED) Þe ryuer of þe water of lijf bitokneþ þe ioye þat neuere shal faile.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 13v Þey [sc. angels] buth I-clepid fury riuers, for þey fondith copious plente þat neuer faileth of ȝeotinge and stremes of godis grace.
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 14 (MED) Þese fisheris of God shulden waishe þere nettis in þis ryver.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 29 (MED) This presente story is smyten in to vij ryuerers [read ryuers; a1387 St. John's Cambr. streemes; L. rivis].
a1500 in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1913) 131 57 [E]uer lastynge fortune of humilyte Of whom spryngith the verrey reuer of grace.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms xxxv[i]. 8 Thou shalt geue them drynke of the ryuer of thy pleasures.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Isocrates in Panoplie Epist. 180 They..throwe themselues into riuers, nay, mayne seas of errours.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. ii. 80 The fruitfull riuer in the eye. View more context for this quotation
1645 S. Rutherford Tryal & Trivmph of Faith (1845) Ded. 11 A sea, and boundless river of visible, living, and breathing grace,..to over-water men and angels.
1697 J. Vanbrugh Relapse ii. i. 36 Do you think this River of Love runs all its course without doing any Mischief?
1734 I. Watts Reliquiæ Juveniles iv. 13 Rivers of Peace attend his Song..He Jars; and, Lo, the Flints are broke.
1782 E. Perronet Small Coll. Hymns 13 Of the fruit of the tree shall they eat, That grows by the river of life.
a1824 Ld. Byron Could I Remount in Lett. & Jrnl. (1830) II. 36 Could I remount the river of my years.
1827 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey III. v. i. 18 Those glorious hours, when the unruffled river of his Life mirrored the cloudless heaven of his Hope.
1892 E. Reeves Homeward Bound 13 It is amusing to note how stout conservatives have drifted down this river of socialism.
1938 H. Belloc Sonnets & Verse 180 Beneath His feet are implacable fate, and panic or night, and the strumble of the hungry river of death.
1991 S. Keen Fire in Belly v. xiii. 193 Women undammed ancient rivers of anger and pain.
b. A large quantity of a flowing substance; (figurative) a large number of things of the same kind in movement. Frequently in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > liquid flow > action or process of flowing > [noun] > copious or sudden
gushingc1380
rivera1382
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Job xxix. 6 I wesh my feet with butter, and the ston helde to me ryueres [L. rivos] of oile.
c1460 Tree & 12 Frutes (McClean) (1960) 96 (MED) Wassh a way þe woundis of þi soule with þe river of teris.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) John vii. f. cxxxj Whosoever beleveth on me,..out off his belly shall flowe ryvers off water off lyfe.
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus ii. iv. 22 A crimson Riuer of warme blood. View more context for this quotation
1611 Bible (King James) Psalms cxix. 136 Riuers of waters runne downe mine eyes. View more context for this quotation
1674 J. Josselyn Two Voy. to New-Eng. in P. J. Lindholdt John Josselin, Colonial Traveler (1988) 7 When presently some more than half as far again we spied a spout from above, it came pouring down like a River of water.
1767 Ann. Reg. 1766 i. 98 The lava is really tremendous, the river of fire being..four miles in length.
1776 A. Adams in J. Adams & A. Adams Familiar Lett. (1876) 144 In peacable possession of a town which we expected would cost us a river of blood.
1832 Ld. Tennyson Œnone in Poems (new ed.) 54 From his lip, curved crimson, the fullflowing river of speech Came down upon my heart.
1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! xxi Beneath that long shining river of mist.
1898 G. Meredith Odes French Hist. 29 You away sweep Rivers of horse, torrent-mad, to the shock.
1910 E. Wharton Let. 3 Oct. (1988) 222 It looks exactly like a Mercator's projection of hell—with the river of pitch, & the iron bridges.
1928 A. Parrish All Kneeling v. 63 All week he had been lost in a regiment of old women, picking up balls of wool, drinking rivers of tea.
1985 R. N. Patterson Private Screening (1986) 14 Her beat-up Volvo joined a river of people on the move.
1996 J. Whedon in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Script Bk. (2000) 1st Season I. 82 Seems to be some sort of pre-ordained massacre. Rivers of blood, Hell on earth... Quite charmless.
†4. A coast, a seaboard. Only in river of Genoa n. = Riviera n. 1a. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Europe > Italy > [noun] > the Riviera
river of Genoa1549
Riviera1632
1549 W. Thomas Hist. Italie f. 185v He..gatte Sauona and Varagine in the ryuer of Genoa.
1612 W. Shute tr. T. de Fougasses Gen. Hist. Venice ii. 271 The Venetian being come to Ancona, sent ten Gallies for the guard of the Citie, and with the residue he determined to rauage the Riuer of Genoa.
1693 T. P. Blount Nat. Hist. 25 [These vessels] are built all along the River of Genoa, being very swift.
1712 J. Browne tr. P. Pomet et al. Compl. Hist. Druggs II. i. 293/2 Anchovies are taken in several Parts, as in the River of Genoa, in Catalonia, at Nice, Antibes, St. Tropez, and other Places in Provence.
1768 J. Boswell Acct. Corsica (ed. 2) ii. 97 This gentleman had the lands of Chiaveri, on the river of Genoa.
a1827 H. M. Williams tr. A. von Humboldt Personal Narr. Trav. (1829) VII. 72 The orange trees and bigaradiers of the river of Genoa survive the fall of snow.
1847 Times 23 Sept. 5/6 There have been some demonstrations at Savona, at Chiavari, and generally along the river of Genoa.
5. Astronomy. With the: (the English name of) the constellation Eridanus; more fully the River Eridanus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > constellation > Southern constellations > [noun] > Eridanus or Flavius
river1556
Eri1922
1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. 268 A greate tract of starres, whiche represent the forme of a Riuer: and therefore are they called the Ryuer.
1599 T. Hill Schoole of Skil i. 23 The image named the riuer, or Eridanus, or Potamos, hath 34. stars.
1686 tr. J. Chardin Coronation Solyman 135 in Trav. Persia The upper part of it advanc'd toward the Girdle of Orion, and the River Eridanus.
1761 Philos. Trans. 1760 (Royal Soc.) 51 469 I had the pleasure last night..to observe a comet in the southern hemisphere, near the northmost extremity of the river Eridanus.
1807 T. Young Course Lect. Nat. Philos. I. xli. 498 Canopus, in the ship Argo, and Achernar, in the river Eridanus, are the most brilliant of them.
1905 A. A. Hopkins & A. R. Bond Sci. Amer. Ref. Bk. 461/1 The River, Eridanus, occupies the lower part of the southwesterly sky.
1994 Afr. Environment & Wildlife Nov.–Dec. 96/1 The sky overhead at this time of year contains no prominent constellations, with Eridanus (the River) stretching from Orion in the east to Hydrus in the south.
6. Typography. A streak of white space running more or less vertically down a printed page, caused by the unanticipated alignment of spaces between words. Also more fully river of white.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printed matter > arrangement or appearance of printed matter > [noun] > space left accidentally
bite1678
river1897
1897 G. B. Shaw Let. 23 Oct. (1965) I. 816 Caxton would have printed your name Gr—ant Richa—rds at the end of a line sooner than spoil his page with rivers of white.
1927 G. B. Shaw Let. 7 Mar. in To a Young Actress (1960) 114 They avoided white patches and rivers in the rich black block of letterpress.
1929 S.P.E. Tract (Soc. for Pure Eng.) No. XXXIII. 437 In careful book-printing the possibility of manipulating spaces is limited, because evenness is desirable, and rivers of white on the page must be avoided.
1967 Guardian 13 Oct. 5/3 Morison holding up a book, inspecting the printed page for rivers of white caused by bad printing.
2002 L. Graham Basics of Design: Layout & Typogr. v. 94 Try to avoid annoying and visually distracting ‘rivers’ of white space when using justified type.
7. The finest grade of diamond. Cf. river stone n. at Compounds 3, and water n. 28.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > diamond > [noun] > fine or perfect diamond
paragon1558
brilliant1690
naïf1892
river1916
1916 F. B. Wade Diamonds i. 16 Probably the finest white diamonds are those classed as ‘Rivers’.
1946 G. Stimpson Bk. about Thousand Things 267 River and extra river are now used to denote diamonds of the finer qualities.
1973 Times 25 Aug. 17/3 The (more or less) accepted English classes run thus in descending order: (1) finest fine white or river alias blue-white; [etc.].
2002 Times (Nexis) 9 Feb. Diamonds come in more than 200 colours but pure white, known as ‘River’, is the most highly prized.
8. Poker. With the.
a. down the river: (a) (in seven-card stud, with reference to the last card dealt) face down; cf. down the river n. at Phrases 7; (b) (also in other forms of poker) in or into the closing stages of a hand; at the dealing of the last card; also occasionally up the river. Cf. down the river at Phrases 5, up the river at Phrases 6.
ΚΠ
1949 G. S. Coffin Fortune Poker viii. 67 The last card is dealt down (down the river) followed by the fifth-and-last interval.
1978 D. Brunson How I made over $1,000,000 playing Poker 140 Wait until Fifth or Sixth St. to raise—because by then you can be pretty sure that they'll be going down the river (to the end) with you.
1979 Washington Post 24 June m6/2 I got kings up the river.
1981 in T. L. Clark Dict. Gambling & Gaming (1987) 182/1 You might catch something good on the flop..and then get snapped off down the river if somebody fills a flush on sixth street.
2004 G. McDonald Deal me In! (2005) vi. 82 The automated ‘dealer’ [in an online game] plays very aggressively... If you stay in the hand, it's likely the dealer will too, all the way down the river.
b. More fully river card: the last card dealt to a player; (now more usually) the fifth and final community card to be dealt in Hold 'Em and Omaha. Also (esp. in on the river): the dealing of this card.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > poker > [noun] > type of card
openers1889
kicker1892
hole-card1908
rag1978
river1978
1978 D. Brunson How I made over $1,000,000 playing Poker Gloss. 544 River card, the last (or 7th) card dealt face down to a player in Razz or Seven-Stud.
1985 Chicago Tribune (Nexis) 3 Feb. (Travel section) 14 I had to buy one more time after going all-in on three kings and having them beat by a flush made on the river.
1997 Poker Mag. Premiere Issue 49/2 The river card was the Ace of diamonds.
2000 B. McNally How to play Poker & Win 87 Surinder made a straight on fourth street, but the Bandit filled a full house on the river.
2002 A. Bellin Poker Nation xv. 234 But after the river was dealt, the J♣, and Joey tapped into me, it looked like I let somebody chase me down.

Phrases

P1. on (also upon) (a, the, etc.) river: on the banks of a river; (also more widely) in the vicinity of a river. Frequently with the name of the river specified.
ΚΠ
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. 2161 Upon a Rivere as he stod, That passe he wolde over the flod Withoute bot.
c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure l. 62 (MED) Thare a citee he sette..That Caerlyon was callid, with curius walles, On the riche reuare þat rynnys so faire.
c1450 Mandeville's Trav. (Coventry) (1973) l. 1293 (MED) The cite of Cair..stant vppon a fair riuer, And Nile þat ryuer cleped it ys.
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. avv Apone yat riche river..The side wallis war set.
a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Royal) i. 1354 Thare huntyng is at alkyne dere And richt gud hawlkyn on rywere.
1577 R. Willes & R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Hist. Trauayle W. & E. Indies Preambles f. 5 A certayne citie named Saim, situate vpon the riuer of Nilus.
1617 G. Carew Let. 18 Jan. (1860) 81 The Kinge of Denmarke..purposeth to build a stronge fort vppon the River of Elbe.
1648 in J. Rushworth Hist. Coll.: Fourth Pt. (1701) II. 1219 An extraordinary Storm..which..hath drowned Two of the best collyeries upon Sunderland River.
1705 Act 4 & 5 Anne c. 8 [21] Owners..of..Mills, upon any..rivers..shall constantly keep open One Scuttle or small Hatch of a Foot Square in the Waste Hatch or Water course..for the Salmon to pass and repass freely.
1790 P. Pond in R. Glover D. Thompson's Narr. (1962) 182 (map) Here upon the Branches of the Missury live the Maundiens, who bring to our Factory..on the Assinipoil River, Indian corn for sale.
1808 Z. M. Pike Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi (1810) iii. App. 28 The presidio of Rio Grande is situated on that river.
1854 Harper's Mag. Mar. 566/2 The boats touched at most of the prominent towns on the river.
1919 Outing Mar. 342/1 On the Santee river 14 miles from Georgetown, S.C. I have some of the best hunting..in this part of the south.
1991 Daily Tel. 5 Jan. (Weekend Suppl.) 1/5 Sir George Young, the ‘bicycling Baronet’, has a modernist structure on the river at Cookham.
P2. in rivers: (esp. of a liquid) in copious amounts.
ΚΠ
1594 Selimus sig. F3v My blood, Streaming in riuers from my tronked armes.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. ii. 72 Their [sc. the wind-gods'] watled Locks gusht all in Riuers out.
1660 G. Mackenzie Aretina 46 Only Philarites..did shed only some few [tears], meerly to accompany those which came in rivers from Aretina's eyes.
1752 H. Fielding Amelia I. i. vi. 46 Not one Drop of his Blood reached my Hand... But..I have the glorious Satisfaction of remembring I saw it run in Rivers on the Floor.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering II. v. 54 Gin by pailfuls, wine in rivers, Dash the window-glass to shivers!
1830 R. Sharp Diary 3 Aug. (1997) 270 All the Gangs and Gang-rails & Pepper Gangs of all degrees hasted away to Hotham yesterday where it was said He would flow in Rivers & Beef rise up like Mountains.
1885 H. R. Haggard King Solomon's Mines xi. 171 For of this be sure, blood will flow in rivers before the deed is done.
1990 S. King Stand (new ed.) ii. xlvii. 555 The man continued to crawl, blood now running off him in rivers.
P3. one cannot bathe in the same river twice and variants [after ancient Greek δὶς ἐς τὸν αὐτὸν ποταμὸν οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης ‘you cannot step twice into the same stream’, attributed by Plato ( Cratylus 402a) to Heraclitus; compare Hellenistic Greek ποταμοῖς γὰρ δὶς τοῖς αὐτοῖς οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης ‘you cannot step twice into the same streams’, similarly attributed to Heraclitus by Plutarch (compare quot. 1603)] : circumstances are in a constant state of flux.
ΚΠ
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1003 As Heraclitus saith: It is impossible for a man to enter into one and the same river twice, because new water commeth still, and runneth away continually.
1670 T. Tenison Creed Mr. Hobbes ii. v. 92 Attend then to the meaning of Heraclitus, who was wont to say, That no Man bathed twice in the same River; and of a Modern Physitian who hath told us, That no Man sits down the same to a second Meal.
1778 T. Reader Preaching of Gospel 5 No man ever bathed twice in the same river, ‘or awoke twice to the same life’.
1908 R. C. Trevelyan Sisyphus iii. 72 But, alas! by the best advice One cannot bathe in the same river twice.
2006 Runner's World Mar. 52/1 It's been said that you can never put your foot in the same river twice... Why is it then that runners think they can run the same route or same race twice?
P4. euphemistic. In miscellaneous uses as an image for the boundary between life and death, esp. in to cross the (dark) river: to die, pass away. [With allusion ultimately to the river Styx, which in Greek mythology formed the boundary between the human world and the underworld, and was later incorporated into many Christian depictions of hell, e.g. in the Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [noun] > boundary between life and death
river1793
1793 R. Burns Poems (ed. 2) II. 174 And hast thou crost that unknown river, Life's dreary bound!
1843 E. Quincy in W. P. Garrison & F. J. Garrison Life W. L. Garrison (1889) III. 79 She had gone down with him [sc. her late husband] to the brink of the River, and..he had gone over and she returned.
1892 Week (Toronto) 660 [Whittier] had at last crossed the river, on whose brink he had been so long waiting.
1899 Harper's Weekly 28 Oct. 1086/1 A few of General Streight's staff are yet living; most of them have crossed the dark river.
1948 A. Stringer Red Wine of Youth xxiii. 264 Of the group that clustered about the grave, over which one gray-green olive tree leaned, many of the Hood men were themselves destined soon to cross the Dark River.
2001 C. Murphey Simply Living i. 50 Ultimately, they were as helpless as every other human being who has crossed the dark river.
P5. down the river.Always with negative connotations except with reference to cards: see Phrases 7 and sense 8a.
a. U.S. to go down the river.
(a) (Of a slave) (to be sold and) conveyed to a plantation on the lower Mississippi (see Phrases 5b(a)). Now historical and rare.
ΚΠ
1835 A. Fry Jrnl. Apr. in H. C. Frazier Slavery & Crime in Missouri (2001) 110 A negro man of Mr. Elies, having been sold to go down the river, attempted first to cut off both of his legs, failing to do that, cut his throat, did not entirely take his life, went a short distance and drowned himself.
1847 H. Clay Let. 22 Dec. in Papers (1991) X. 391 I never sold, in my life, any woman and child to go down the river or to go South.
1857 M. G. Browne Autobiogr. Female Slave xxii. 197 They will send me to the South. As the poor slaves say, I'm going down the river.
1893 ‘M. Twain’ in Cent. Mag. Dec. 238/1 Percy Driscoll slept well the night he saved his house-minions from going down the river.
1982 L. H. MacKethan in J. Sekora & D. H. Turner Art of Slave Narr. 66 To go down the river, for a slave, is to watch one's destiny take the darkest imaginable turn.
(b) colloquial. To come to grief, to become irreparably damaged or decayed. Cf. to go down the Swanee at Swanee n. 2. rare.
ΚΠ
1939 ‘E. Queen’ in Blue Bk. Mag. Oct. 18/1 ‘Mike's car's gone down the river.’ ‘I thought the champion was wealthy,’ said Mr. Queen. ‘Not any more.’
1948 C. Rice Big Midget Murders i. 6 If the Casino should go down the river, it meant back to the press agent grind again.
b. to sell (a person) down the river.
(a) U.S. To sell (a slave), esp. one regarded as a troublemaker, to a plantation on the lower Mississippi, typically regarded as providing the harshest conditions for labour; (also occasionally in extended use) to deliver (oneself) into servitude or subjugation. Now historical except in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > slavery or bondage > be slave of [verb (transitive)] > enslave > sell into slavery
sella1000
to sell (a person) down the river1836
1836 Afr. Repository & Colonial Jrnl. Oct. 321 Suppose it be enacted that after the year 1840 slavery shall cease to exist in Kentucky. What would follow? All who chose would sell their slaves down the river; the benevolent would free them, and send them away, or let them remain, as they thought best.
1839 Liberator (Boston) 26 Apr. 68/5 His father had been sold down the river some seven months ago, since which time he had not been heard from.
1851 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin in National Era 14 Aug. 1/2 I've had one or two of these fellers, and I jest sold 'em down river.
1894 ‘M. Twain’ Pudd'nhead Wilson ix. 113 Ole Marse Driscoll 'll sell you down de river.
1927 P. G. Wodehouse Small Bachelor i. 21 When Sigsbee Waddington married for the second time, he to all intents and purposes sold himself down the river.
1936 M. Mitchell Gone with the Wind xxii. 373 You'll go or I'll sell you down the river. You'll never see your mother again or anybody you know and I'll sell you for a field hand too.
2005 S. Deyle Carry me Back vii. 245 Initially, they referred to the wonderful life that a slave longed to return to after being sold down the river in the domestic trade.
(b) colloquial (originally U.S.). To betray, esp. for one's own benefit.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > undutifulness > betrayal > betray [verb (transitive)]
sellc950
forredea1000
belewec1000
trechec1230
betrayc1275
trayc1275
wrayc1275
traise1320
trechetc1330
betradec1375
betraisec1386
bewray1535
betrantc1540
boil1602
reveal1640
peacha1689
bridge1819
to go back on (also upon)1859
to sell (a person) down the river1921
1921 E. Davis Hist. N.Y. Times 1851–1921 i. v. 170 Its editors were chiefly concerned to prevent it from being ‘sold down the river’.
1941 W. H. Auden New Year Let. ii. 44 ‘I'll fix you something for your liver’; And thus he sells us down the river.
1951 Record Changer Nov. 7/1 At the very least, Columbia is apt to feel it has been sold down the river.
1958 H. M. Hayward & M. Harari tr. B. Pasternak Dr. Zhivago vi. 155 It's my considered opinion, Yurochka, we've been sold down the river.
1976 Southern Evening Echo (Southampton) 16 Nov. 3/3 Some aspects of Britain's education system needed to be put right but ‘we should not sell it down the river’ Education Secretary Mrs. Shirley Williams said last night.
2004 On Earth Fall 35/1 There is no one over here saying that the son of a gun sold us down the river.
c. colloquial (chiefly U.S.). to send down the river: to send to prison. Cf. up the river at Phrases 6.
ΚΠ
1894 Atlantic Rep. 27 391/2 The witness..has testified here that he heard the chief say that he had got H. H. Hollister, and was going to send him down the river, whether guilty or not.
1910 Southern Rep. 50 781/2 Latham was guilty and, should he be a juror, he would send him down the river.
1974 Times 31 Jan. 4/5 He had overheard Miss Jones threatening Mr Dee ‘to send him down the river for life’.
1987 J. Barnao LockeStep xi. 115 You don't send a bunch of Godfathers down the river for twenty years without making some serious enemies.
d. colloquial (chiefly U.S.). to be down the river: to be finished, ruined, or past repair; to be in the past, to be over and done with. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > slavery or bondage > into slavery [phrase]
down the river1930
the world > time > relative time > the past > [adverb] > in the past or over and done with
arrear1587
irremeably1805
forbye1862
down the river1930
1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement ii. 80 And up to eighteen months ago, I'd have told you that Claridge and Molton was one of the soundest concerns in the business. And look at 'em now. Properly in Queer Street. Absolutely down the river.
1931 Sun (Baltimore) 31 Jan. 1/5 True enough, I used to hustle a little beer in the old days—but that's all down the river.
P6. colloquial (originally U.S.). up the river: to prison; (originally) spec. to Sing Sing prison, situated up the Hudson River from the city of New York. Now also: in prison. Frequently in to send a person up the river.See also sense 8a(b).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > [adverb] > to prison
up the river1874
1864 C. G. Halpine Life & Adventures of Private Miles O'Reilly 142 He hoped this year that they might be enabled to send up the river—he did not mean to Sing Sing, but to Albany—four Senators and seventeen Assemblymen of the best possible stripe.]
1874 C. Sutton N.Y. Tombs xx. 248 ‘Well, Colonel,’ he remarked, when the Colonel was brought before him, ‘here you are again. This time I think you stand a good chance for a trip up the river.’
1891 in H. Campbell Darkness & Daylight (1892) ii. 75 Lager-beer had come up since I went up the river.
1905 C. H. Day Actress & Clerk v. 53 I didn't go up the river for several stretches for nothing, I didn't. I've got a record.
1946 Chicago Daily News 5 Mar. 8/3 I done it. Send me up the river. Give me the hot seat.
1990 ‘E. McBain’ Vespers xii. 285 Blackmail, or extortion, was punishable by a max of fifteen years. A long stretch up the river if you threatened to tattle unless someone paid you off.
1990 B. Roche Poor Beast in Rain i. i. 9 We were queer and lucky not to be sent up the river that time boy.
2008 L. Fairstein Killer Heat xiv. 90 I'll find this beast and you'll send him up the river for the rest of his life.
P7.
down the river n. Poker the game of seven-card stud; (also) the seventh and last card dealt, face down, to a player in this game.
ΚΠ
1920 Rio Grande Republic (New Mexico) 30 Sept. 6/5 A real honest to goodness poker joint, where jack pots, ‘down the river’, stud poker and one card monte reigned supreme.
1949 G. S. Coffin Fortune Poker Gloss. 176 Down the River, Seven-card Stud or manner of dealing the last card down in same.
1961 I. Rottenberg Friday Night Poker ii. 25 Seven-card stud, also known as ‘down the river’, is a game with enough zip to satisfy exotic tastes.
1973 T. A. Preston & B. G. Cox Play Poker to Win ix. 114 That ‘down the river’ card—that's what the last face-down card is called—is the best possible one on which to make your hand.
2001 Times-Picayune (New Orleans) (Nexis) 21 Jan. (Living section) 1 They play rounds of poker in specific order: seven-card stud (‘Down the River’); five-card draw,..‘Hold 'Em’; and, finally, five-card stud.

Compounds

C1.
a. General attributive.
(a)
river cruise n.
ΚΠ
1859 N.Y. Herald 13 Aug. 1/1 Urquiza's lately bought steamers..have been preparing for a river cruise at Montevideo.
2002 P. Theroux Dark Star Safari (2003) iii. 40 The pleasantest aspect of the river cruise was the combination of gourmandizing and sightseeing.
river drainage n.
ΚΠ
1834 E. Nares Man, Theologically & Geologically 108 We are, by losses at sea and river drainage, continually conveying to the world preparing for those who are to come after us, a vast abundance of imperishable things.
1863 A. C. Ramsay Physical Geol. & Geogr. Great Brit. 106 The old system of river-drainage.
1996 Geogr. Rev. 86 223 The greater flow efficiency allows water to move rapidly out of the river drainage.
river fishery n.
ΚΠ
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. vi. 62 It is otherwise, at least through the greater part of Europe, in river fisheries. A salmon fishery pays a rent. View more context for this quotation
1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 26/2 The importance of a river fishery.
2005 Frontiers in Ecol. & Environment Oct. 408/2 The main threat to most of Africa's crucially important river fisheries..is altered river flow.
river flow n.
ΚΠ
1885 J. Strong Own Country ii. 9 We are told that east of the Rocky Mountains we have a river-flow of more than 40,000 miles.
1943 Triumphs of Engin. 53/2 The entire river-flow—high-flood and all—had to be diverted.
1995 William & Mary News 4 Oct. 4/2 Changes in land-use practices and fluctuations in river flow..have pronounced effects on the delivery of organic matter to coastal and estuarine systems.
river link n.
ΚΠ
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Maine Woods (1864) iii. 251 The Allegash..here consists principally of a chain of large and stagnant lakes, whose thoroughfares, or river-links, have been made nearly equally stagnant by damming.
1928 Econ. Geogr. 4 221 A river link..occurs between Tura and Tavda... These links are characteristic of undeveloped regions.
1992 M. Kettle Churchill & Archangel Fiasco xv. 481 The Sukhona river (the river link between Kotlas and Vologda).
river name n.
ΚΠ
1857 J. G. Kohl Descr. Catal. Maps Amer. 76 Among them are different river-names, which are still to-day in use.
1966 Eng. Stud. 47 210 The oldest river-names are of pre-English origin.
2003 Afr. Arts 36 93/2 These river names are of European origin.
river shooting n.
ΚΠ
1819 Times 12 Oct. 1/4 (advt.) It is one of the best places for woodcock and river shooting in the principality.
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports i. i. viii. 70/2 For pond and river-shooting, these guns may be from 12 to 16 lbs.
1974 Virginia Wildlife Jan. 21/2 (caption) The wary black duck is the mainstay of river shooting, supplemented by mallards and woodies.
river traffic n.
ΚΠ
1781 Bill to supply with Seamen His Majesty's Ships 6 In the Coasting and Coal Trades, Fisheries, River Traffic, Inland Navigation, or any Home Service..every such Owner, Master, or Commander, shall, and is and are hereby strictly injoined and required to apply to the Marine Office of the Port.
1879 Rep. Comm. Navig. River Thames p. xxx in Parl. Papers 1878–9 (C. 2338) XLI. 245 As to the hour at which the ordinary river traffic or daylight excursions should end, there is more difference of opinion.
2003 Wanderlust Apr.–May 71/2 Reports from the macaw colpa said that the birds had yet to feed: too much river traffic from passing loggers and their peki-pekis.
river trip n.
ΚΠ
1833 Edinb. Rev. Jan. 479 Mrs Trollope seems to have been unlucky in her river trips.
1898 J. S. Webb in Cent. Mag. Mar. 672 (title) The river trip to the Klondike.
2007 Guardian 17 Feb. (Review section) 19/5 And it is not bad as a guidebook, both for river trips and for footpadding on and off those pedestrian paths so begrudgingly permitted on either side of the river.
river view n.
ΚΠ
1786 W. Gilpin Observ. Mountains & Lakes Cumberland I. 6 Switzerland may perhaps exceed it in the beauty of it's wooded vallies; Germany, in it's river-views; and Italy, in it's lake-scenes.
1856 F. S. Cozzens Sparrowgrass Papers xii. 165 Stepping from block to block, with a fine river view in front and below.
1990 A. Burton Cityscapes x. 117/1 The immense lift bridge..closes off the river view upstream.
river voyage n.
ΚΠ
1755 J. Hervey Theron & Aspasio I. p. xxxi A River Voyage.
1830 T. Flint Shoshonee Valley I. iv. 90 The glowing descriptions of the voluble Frenchman, and the more staid and credible narrative of Elder Wood, alike concurred to fill the minds of the young men with the delight of the contemplated river voyage.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring ii. ix. 400 I hoped the river-voyage would beat him, but he is too clever a waterman.
2008 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 21 Sept. l3 Some hardy Hoosiers are recreating Abraham Lincoln's 1828 river voyage to New Orleans aboard a 60-foot wooden flatboat.
(b) poetic.
river-bud n.
ΚΠ
1820 P. B. Shelley Sensitive Plant in Prometheus Unbound 159 Starry river-buds glimmered by.
1923 M. Hobbs in W. Nutting New Hampsh. Beautiful 178 A lizard, basking on a rock Beside a crimson river-bud!
river dream n.
ΚΠ
1846 F. P. Palmer Wanderings of Pen & Pencil vi. 164 A token of our river-dream.
1936 W. H. Auden Look, Stranger! 15 Whose river-dreams long hid the size And vigours of the sea.
1988 A. Say (title) A river dream.
river-fancy n. rare
ΚΠ
1934 E. Blunden Mind's Eye iii. 170 Spenser, in his Faerie Queene..marries the Medway to the Thames with a great display of river-fancy.
river week n. rare
ΚΠ
a1930 D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 30 Come then!.. In a week! The ancient river week, the old one.
b. attributive with the sense of ‘found or situated in, on, or near a river’.
(a) Designating objects or matter found in a river.
river debris n.
ΚΠ
1840 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 3 416/2 If that part of the river between the Broomielaw Bridge and Stockwell Bridge..were deepened it would receive the river debris before it could reach the harbour.
1847 E. A. Poe Domain of Arnheim in Wks. (1857) I. 401 There is not one token of the usual river debris.
1991 Bull. Amer. Schools Oriental Res. No. 282–3. 105/1 Old river debris in fields sloping gently to the river.
river earth n.
ΚΠ
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §596 Pond-earth, or River-earth,..is a very good Compost.
1853 J. B. Burke Family Romance II. 216 It is an artificial mound,..composed of river earth and common gravel.
2005 S. Sassen in A. Sica & S. P. Turner Disobedient Generation 230 Everything was the color of dry river earth.
river pebble n.
ΚΠ
1658 tr. G. della Porta Nat. Magick vi. ii. 179 Take river-pebbles and put them into a fornace, in that place where the retorted flame is most intense.
1715 N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture I. ix. 12 River-pebbles split in the middle,..laid with the split-side outwards.
1869 E. S. P. Ward Gates Ajar xi. 163 It takes longer to reach sea-shells than river-pebbles.
1994 N.Y. Mag. 22 Aug. 21/2 The setting..is spectacular: ‘chopstick’ chairs, 500,000 black river pebbles shimmering on one wall.
river silt n.
ΚΠ
1832 C. Babbage Econ. Machinery & Manuf. xi. 62 The finest river silt, carefully separated from all the coarser particles, and mixed with water so as to have the have consistency of cream.
1876 D. Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. (ed. 6) ix. 171 The gigantic bird-bones found in the river-silts of New Zealand.
2007 I. McDonald Brasyl 134 The anchors rose from the water, gray and slimy with river silt.
(b) Designating land or geographical features found in or beside rivers.
river bar n.
ΚΠ
1821 T. Nuttall Jrnl. Trav. Arkansa x. 166 The river bars now abound in gravel, which is principally petrosilicious.
1874 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 20 The gravel taken from the gulches and river-bars.
1993 Canad. Geographic May 56 (caption) Purplish alpine fireweed..thrives on river bars and gravelly floodplains in many mountainous areas.
river beach n.
ΚΠ
1758 W. Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornwall x. 107 On the sea and river-beach those pebbles of the softer kinds..owe their roundness to the neighbouring waves.
1895 R. Kipling Second Jungle Bk. 242 The dholes rushed up the river-beach in a wave.
1981 G. McKenzie Aurukun Diary 25 The folks at Aurukun always referred to the beach as the sandbeach; I suppose because many of the river beaches were more or less mud.
river bluff n.
ΚΠ
1805 M. Lewis Jrnl. 3 June in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1987) IV. 247 The Choke-cherry grows here in abundance both in the river bottoms and in the steep ravenes along the river bluffs.
2001 Nature Conservancy Mar.–Apr. 34/1 This 6,267-acre preserve west of Tallahassee protects a geologically unique series of river bluffs and steep-head ravines.
river coast n.
ΚΠ
1509 S. Hawes Pastyme of Pleasure (de Worde) xxxvi. sig. Q.iii By the ryuer cost.
1817 N. Amer. Rev. Nov. 135 It has two thousand miles of lake, one thousand of gulf, and one hundred thousand of river coast.
2008 V. Barros et al. in N. Leary et al. Climate Change & Vulnerability vi. 117 The total number of people living along the Plata river coast, including the Buenos Aires region, is almost 14 million.
river flat n.
ΚΠ
a1816 B. Hawkins Sketch Creek Country 1798 & 1799 in Coll. Georgia Hist. Soc. (1848) III. 47 On the right side, off from the river flats, the land is waving.
1903 E. T. Seton Animal Heroes 136 A brown Marsh Hawk came skimming over the river flat.
1995 Countryman Spring 50 As I walked by rich river flats out of Tiverton, a young farmer picked me up in a rattletrap lorry.
river glade n.
ΚΠ
1818 J. Keats Endymion ii. 91 We will shade Ourselves whole summers by a river glade.
1861 W. F. Collier Hist. Eng. Lit. 122 Shadowy river-glade and rolling plough-land.
2005 Sunday Tasmanian (Nexis) 22 May t18 We joined a group tour that walked us through the river glades.
river grove n.
ΚΠ
1875 A. Cambridge Manor House & Other Poems 30 In Caffre waggons I was drawn up lone Cape gorges, green and steep, And camped by river-grove and lawn.
1930 E. Blunden Poems 290 The secret paths of river-groves.
1984 P. Horgan Great River ii. vii. 122 Others were alive and scattering in the river groves.
river hill n. [compare River Hill as a minor place name in Kent (18th cent. or earlier)] chiefly U.S.
ΚΠ
1804 J. Marshall Life G. Washington III. v. 281 General Burgoyne..fortified his right, and extended his left to the extremity of the river hills.
1948 Clarke County Democrat (Grove Hill, Alabama) 29 Apr. 4/2 The river hill, while not yet quite subdued, is nothing like the formidable barrier that it once was.
2008 Intelligencer Jrnl. (Lancaster, Pa.) (Nexis) 1 Oct. c7 The race course begins at the Pequea Campground, meanders over the river hills.
river island n.
ΚΠ
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 617 A river-island, insulated within waters.
1724 H. Moll New Descr. Eng. & Wales 219/1 It [sc. Tamworth] takes its Name from the Tame, on whose fruitful Banks it stands, and the Saxon Word Weorth, which signifies a Yard or Farm, and also a River-Island, or any Place surrounded with Water.
1836 Penny Cycl. V. 359/1 S. Anna [is] perhaps the largest river island in the world.
1913 J. London Valley of Moon xvii. 479 I wouldn't trade a square mile of this kind of country for the whole Sacramento Valley, with the river islands thrown in and Middle River for good measure.
1997 High Country News 27 Oct. 9/3 These dams are semi-removable concrete-and-flashboard structures, connected to a river island.
river isle n.
ΚΠ
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. 351 This is a river-isle ten miles about, encompassed with the river Rother diuiding his streames.
1774 J. Campbell Polit. Surv. Brit. I. vii. 395 The Isle of Thanet..is now a Peninsula, or at best a River Isle only.
1867 W. Morris Life & Death of Jason xv. 286 She muttered charms learned in the river isle.
2003 Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. 123 841 He passes by the same river isle where General Xie encountered Yuan.
river land n.
ΚΠ
1721 J. Wise Word of Comfort 41 From their Climate, Soyle, Intervale River Lands, and Indian Labourers, &c. whence they Raise all sorts of the Provision Species cheaper than we can.
1781 S. Peters Gen. Hist. Connecticut 242 One acre commonly yields..from 40 to 60 bushels [of Indian corn] on river land.
1899 T. Nicol Recent Archæol. & Bible x. 168 The fertile plains..of the Eastern River-land.
1988 Yankee May 101/2 Watch Rock is a half mile of river land..on the east shore of the Connecticut River.
river lawn n.
ΚΠ
1765 J. Elphinston Princ. Eng. Lang. Digested I. ii. 42 Haugh is no-where direct, though it still compounds a river-lawn in both parts of Britain; as in Fetherstonehaugh, Philiphaugh.
1820 P. B. Shelley Hymn of Pan 20 The edge of the moist river-lawns.
1998 Garden Hist. 26 39 The pair of staircases giving access to the villa from the river lawn.
river marge n. chiefly poetic
ΚΠ
1860 M. Collins Summer Songs 16 The village bells..Whose clear gay carol from the ivied spire Over green meadows by the river marge Half answered me.
1922 B. Carman Later Poems 68 Mortal, mortal, come with me, When the moon is rising large, Through the wood or from the sea, Or by some lone river marge.
1992 S. Lawhead Silver Hand xii. 132 We traveled the river marge where the walking was easiest.
river margin n.
ΚΠ
1753 T. Warton in Union: Select Scots & Eng. Poems 83 Bring the dear Muse, that loves to lean On river-margins, mossy green.
1838 T. L. Mitchell Three Exped. (1839) II. 89 It appeared to belong to the river margin.
1906 Geogr. Jrnl. 27 465 The natural embankments which follow the river margins, and are caused by the filtering action of the vegetation.
1991 New Scientist 28 Sept. 46/2 The river margins, which are first colonised by sedges and rushes, swarm with dragonflies.
river marsh n.
ΚΠ
1802 J. R. Head in Communications Board Agric. III. xx. 369 Sea and river marshes, which are, by the improvement of the country, secure from floods, produce in general, the greatest crops of corn.
1930 E. Pound Draft of XXX Cantos vi. 24 By river-marsh, by galleried church-porch.
2004 G. A. Hammerson Connecticut Wildlife iv. 50/2 Birds that actually nest in river marshes range from waterfowl to songbirds.
river mead n.
ΚΠ
1778 W. Marshall Minutes Agric. sig. I2 Mowing weedy grass by the side of the rivulet in River-mead.
1859 Ld. Lytton Wanderer (ed. 2) 211 Lady Eve..dwells beside The river-meads, and oak-trees tall.
1993 J. R. Petch & J. Kolejka in R. Haines-Young et al. Landscape Ecol. & Geogr. Information Syst. iv. 44 For instance, in valleys, river meads, slopes, terraces and channels have recognizable chorological (spatial) structures.
river meadow n.
ΚΠ
1717 Boston News-let. 2 Dec. 2/2 [A very good farm] will admit of Thirty or Forty Load of English and River Meadow Hay to be annually mowed.
?1724 Answer to Rep. of Level Fens 6 These Fens were therefore in Nature River-Meadow.
c1847 H. D. Thoreau in J. L. Shanley Making of Walden (1957) 198 Men who frequent the river meadows and solitary ponds in the horizon.
2008 Irish Times (Nexis) 26 Aug. 15 The old river meadows which once held the Suir's water in flood are now entirely ‘developed’.
river plain n.
ΚΠ
1832 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. (ed. 2) II. 130 An extensive moor, or a great river-plain.
1954 Erdkunde 8 122/1 A river plain, dotted with groups or swarms of limestone towers or castles... This is the tower karst.
2000 Transition No. 80. 47/1 The Mexica..migrated across sprawling deserts, river plains, and mountain cordilleras.
river shore n.
ΚΠ
1594 G. Peele Battell of Alcazar ii. i. sig. E I shall beholde Him dragde along this running riuer shore, A spectacle to dant the pride of those That climbe aloft by force, and not by right.
1612 W. Shute tr. T. de Fougasses Gen. Hist. Venice ii. 211 Hee came forth vnlookt for, with great fury, vpon those who stayed behind vpon the riuer shoare, ready to passe ouer.
1770 G. Washington Tour to Ohio in Olden Time (1846) I. 423 At the lower end of the Long Reach..is a large bottom, but low, and covered with beach near the river shore.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Gardener's Daughter in Poems (new ed.) II. 31 The balmy glooming, crescent-lit, Spread the light haze along the river-shores.
2000 Up Here (Yellowknife, N.W. Territories) Feb. 7 (caption) When Don returned two years ago, he was warmly welcomed on the rivershore by Edwin Lindberg.
(c) Designating a path, road, etc., running alongside (or occasionally leading to) a river.
river road n. North American
ΚΠ
1724 in Acts of Assembly, Island Jamaica (1738) 204 Whereas, by the Depth and Rapidity of the River called RioCobre..and its often Overflowing in many Places, the Highway or Road, commonly called the River Road, becomes unsafe to travel.
1776 G. Washington Let. 27 Dec. in Boston Gaz. (1777) 20 Jan. 2/1 I formed my detachment into two divisions, one to march up the lower or river road, the other by the upper or Pennington road.
1829 J. MacTaggart Three Years in Canada II. 202 When the snow falls deep, before the ice has had time to freeze to any considerable thickness, the river roads remain dangerous all the season.
1914 Geogr. Jrnl. 43 270 It is not easy for an explorer..to bring home to an audience comfortably seated..all that is meant by a river-road full of dangerous rapids and unfordable pot-holes.
1996 L. Scanlan Heading Home iv. 71 A fox came down the river road and sent the ducks speed-waddling into the river.
river trail n.
ΚΠ
1847 Amer. Whig Rev. Dec. 628/1 At this village, the main trail of the Iroquois from east to west crossed the valley and intersected the river trail.
1902 S. E. White Blazed Trail iii. xxx. 211 The little procession..took its way up the river-trail.
1994 Inside Fort Collins 15 Dec. 12/1 The paved river trail, along with it's [sic] tributary, the Spring Creek Trail, have been meeting the..needs of..cyclists, wheelchairers, skaters and bladers.
river walk n.
ΚΠ
1712 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 7 Aug. (1948) II. 555 Pray observe the Cherry Trees on the River walk.
a1882 J. Thomson Poet. Wks. (1895) I. 137 Large elm-trees stood along that river-walk.
1992 M. Bracewell Conclave v. 194 Marilyn led Martin along the railinged river walk.
(d) Designating a human settlement or man-made structure built on or on the banks of a river.
river bridge n.
ΚΠ
1804 Plantæ Rariores 44 in Trans. Dublin Soc. 1803 4 In a marshy place, near the river bridge.
1940 W. Faulkner Hamlet i. iii. 77 His destination was not far: a little under a mile to the river bridge, a little more than a mile beyond it.
2003 M. F. Kenny Marathon Marriage iii. 98 He was in a state of panic as he drove in frenzy to the river bridge over the stream at the rape mills.
river city n.
ΚΠ
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Josh. xvii. B Then commeth it downe..towarde the south syde of the ryuer cities.
1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes III. ii. ii. §iv. 270 (margin) Beauties and glories of this Riuer-Citie.
1867 L. P. Brockett Woman's Work in Civil War 14 (table) Condition of St. Louis and the other river cities at this time.
2003 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 8 June (Escape section) 12/2 River cities are special, and none more so than Budapest.
river port n.
ΚΠ
1760 State of France 17 Every one who held a post or office in the revenue on sea-ports and river-ports, and all others in general, were taxed annually in proportion to the income of such posts or office.
1837 J. R. McCulloch Statist. Acct. Brit. Empire I. i. iii. 332 (heading) Rivers and River Ports.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 875/1 The Dniester is an important channel for trade, corn, spirits and timber being exported from Podolian river ports.
2002 M. Kurlansky Salt (2003) xv. 251 Midwestern farmers..took them to the waterfront to be delivered to the river ports of Louisville and Cincinnati.
river town n.
ΚΠ
1684 I. Mather Ess. for Recording Illustrious Providences x. 329 The Indian Corn by the long continuance of the Waters is spoiled: so that the four River Towns viz. Windsor, Hartford, Weathersfield, Middle-Town, are extream sufferers.
a1850 G. G. Foster New York Naked (c1855) vii. 74 Here he fell in, accidentally, with a rich banker and capitalist, from one of the river towns.
1998 A. Dalby Dict. Langs. 150/2 Kasa or Carabanne is the dialect of the Senegalese river towns on the Casamance, from Ziguinchor down to the Atlantic ports.
river ward n. U.S.
ΚΠ
1853 M. Hoffman Treat. Estate & Rights of Corporation of City N.Y. ii. 83 It is to be noticed that the limits of the river wards extended collectively to all the soil under water on the Long Island side.
2008 N.Y. Times Mag. 6 Apr. 46 Many had moved here from the cramped neighborhoods of Philadelphia's blue-collar ‘river wards’.
(e) Designating natural phenomena encountered on, or atmospheric conditions typical of, a river.
river bore n. [ < river n.1 + bore n.3]
ΚΠ
1856 D. M. Mulock John Halifax I. iv. 79 I've often seen it on Severn... We often call it the river-boar.
1923 Sci. Monthly June 566 Hence a river bore causes high water to occur nearer to the preceding than to the following low water.
2003 Guinness World Records 257/1 The Official British Surfing Association holds the record for the longest ride on a river bore, set on the Severn Bore, UK.
river breeze n.
ΚΠ
1744 J. Lockman tr. J. de La Fontaine Loves Cupid & Psyche 67 The River-breeze shall have calm'd the wild Fury of the Flock.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in Enoch Arden, etc. 74 The soft river-breeze, Which fann'd the gardens.
1994 N.Y. Mag. 22 Aug. 21/1 The view and river breeze make this otherwise B-list subterranean scene... well, almost enchanting.
river-damp n.
ΚΠ
1759 A. Brice Grand Gazetteer 163/1 Tho' what's sown comes up, the contagious River Damps kill it.
1848 C. Kingsley Yeast in Fraser's Mag. Aug. 198/2 The river-damps are God's sending.
1963 Landfall Mar. 23 River-damp softened her hair: her skin smelled of soap.
1987 J. Hooker Master of Leaping Figures 58 Old walls that have soaked in river-damp.
river eddy n.
ΚΠ
a1822 P. B. Shelley Cyclops in Posthumous Poems (1824) 331 Here..the river-eddies meet In the trough beside the cave.
1922 J. Dos Passos Pushcart at Curb 179 The swirl of river-eddies about a barge where men sit drinking.
2000 N. Vick Fishing on Ice v. 106 Slack-water zones usually take the form of a river eddy.
river mist n.
ΚΠ
1819 J. A. Hillhouse Percy's Masque i. i. 2 How volumed, dense, and white, the river mist Winds down the gleaming vale!
1926 R. Kipling Debits & Credits 233 And the river-mist runs silver round their knees!
1989 Daily Tel. 16 Sept. 40/1 The early morning river mist makes the earth opaque.
river rain n. now rare
ΚΠ
1851 Parl. Gaz. Eng. & Wales 2 146/2 The roads over the mountains are excessively steep, and strewed with stones of various sizes detached from the rocks by the river rains.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Merlin & Vivien 807 in Idylls of King The rotten branch Snapt in the rushing of the river-rain.
1953 D. Grubb Night of Hunter i. 27 It began to rain suddenly, like tears: a soft thick river rain that blew in gusts from the dark hills around the valley.
river spring n.
ΚΠ
a1822 P. B. Shelley Fragm. Unfinished Drama in Posthumous Poems (1824) 101 How oft we two Have sat near the river springs.
1878 H. Bonar My Old Lett. (ed. 2) vii. 180 The rushing winds, The river-springs, old ocean's countless smile.
2008 J. E. Spittler Animals & Apocryphal Acts of Apostles viii. 214 The river springs are called ‘the wine of beasts’.
river tide n.
ΚΠ
1799 in R. Brown Gen. View Agric. West Riding Yorks. xii. 171 Low land, capable of being flooded by the rising and falling of river tides, is of all others the most improveable.
1837 Ld. Tennyson Oh! that 'twere Possible in Ld. Northampton Tribute 246 In drifts of lurid smoke, On the misty river-tide.
1993 Econ. Geogr. 69 339/1 The IFAD project had also improved some swamps that relied on river tides for irrigation.
c. Designating the course, or some part of the course, of a river.
river bend n.
ΚΠ
1825 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Agric. iii. iii. ii. 651 The operation of guarding the immediate bank of a sharp river bend..is generally a work of much difficulty and expense.
1870 B. Taylor Ballad of Abraham Lincoln 5 Every cypress swamp was passed, And every river bend; And at New Orleans' wharf, at last, The voyage had an end.
1992 In-Fisherman Feb. 89/2 Logs and debris are deposited in river bends and behind wing dams.
river course n.
ΚΠ
1774 E. Long Hist. Jamaica I. ii. iv. 474 There are in general a coarse reddish grit, honeycomb rock, pebbles, coarse gravel or sand from the river-courses, and gullies.
1845 Encycl. Metrop. VI. 705/1 This fluctuation of the river-courses is excessively irregular.
1993 Canoeist Dec. 20/1 Subjects were required to indicate the position of the 25 gates from a particular World Cup slalom in which they had participated on a map of the river course.
river delta n.
ΚΠ
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 91 Marine currents, preying alike on river-deltas, and continuous lines of sea-coast.
1991 Traveller Spring 34/3 The unique inland river delta of the Okavango in Botswana.
river edge n.
ΚΠ
?1746 Journey through Eng. & Scotl. viii. 88 You'll see in a warm Morning, the River Edges lin'd with these Sort of Women that are Maid-servants, and frequently as many Soldiers admiring their Legs and Thighs.
1883 ‘M. Twain’ Life on Mississippi xxii. 256 St. Louis is a great..city; but the river-edge of it seems dead.
1999 W. L. Heat Moon River Horse iv. 89 We walked the river edge to find a pull-out, but the steep banks gave no accommodation.
river ford n.
ΚΠ
1809 C. A. Elton tr. Hesiod Remains 190 Thy feet the river-ford essay.
a1822 P. B. Shelley Homer's Hymn to Mercury lvii, in Posthumous Poems (1824) 314 He right down to the river-ford had driven.
1995 J. Shreeve Neandertal Enigma (1996) xii. 338 The Cro-Magnons did not have to massacre the Neandertal groups they came across, or chase them away from river fords or flint outcrops.
river line n.
ΚΠ
1808 Trial at Large Lt. Gen. Whitelocke 551 The object was to form a connected line of station..occupying the river line of the town on each flank of the centre defence of the enemy.
1835 J. H. Ingraham South-West I. viii. 91 A broad, spacious esplanade,..forming a magnificent thoroughfare along the whole extensive river-line.
1958 N. Levine Canada made Me v. 127 Old bits of dead grass, like tufts of hair, stuck out of the mud. Near the riverline the snow had not melted.
1991 R. Oliver Afr. Experience (1993) vi. 71 The moister micro-environments provided by river lines, lakeshores and mountain valleys.
river loop n.
ΚΠ
1843 New Zealand Jrnl. 22 July 190/2 There are two clearances in the forest, one between the two river loops, the other nearer, dotted with the stumps of cut-down trees.
2007 I. McDonald Brasyl 187 The pirogue entered a marshy furo between river loops.
river mouth n.
ΚΠ
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) 605 Within ane nes ane rever mouth tha saw.
1790 J. Backus Diary 6 Dec. in W. W. Backus Geneal. Mem. Backus Family (1889) 93 Came down to the river mouth of a large run.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake II. iii. 47 Hereward lay outside the river mouth, his soul..black with disappointment.
1997 A. Warner These Demented Lands 36 That mother won't let us pick up the logs at the river mouth.
river ravine n.
ΚΠ
1788 J. May Jrnl. 1 July (1873) (modernized text) 75 We contemplated in our plans a grand bridge over the river ravine.
1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 276/2 The river-ravine likewise crept backward, but at a more rapid rate.
2005 A. Schulte-Peevers Canada 90 Hiking up the city's river ravines and paddling on Lake Ontario during summer.
river reach n.
ΚΠ
1849 H. D. Thoreau Week Concord & Merrimack Rivers 370 There is a pleasant tract on the bank of the Concord,..which I have in mind;..the open wood, the river-reach.
1992 Nat. World Autumn 14/2 In Devon 109 sites and river reaches are affected by water abstraction or diversions.
river valley n.
ΚΠ
?a1737 W. Hals Compl. Hist. Cornwal (?1750) liii. 123 The head or chief good or consecrated Spring, or Well of Water or River Valley.
1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 24/1 The basins which occur in these river-valleys.
1999 M. Shoard Right to Roam viii. 366 Along river valleys, beneath the gritstone edges of the Dark Peak, and within walking distance of the limestone caverns of Castleton.
d. With the sense of ‘used or operating on a river’.
river artillery n.
ΚΠ
1855 Murray's Handbk. Trav. S. Germany (ed. 7) xv. 493 These were afterwards formed into a river artillery battalion, called the Tshaikist battalion.
1861 G. A. Spottiswoode in F. Galton Vacation Tourists & Trav. 1860 88 The fifteenth [district] maintaining a battalion of river artillery.
1989 J. B. A. Bailey Field Artillery & Firepower xi. 74 Many cities contain large waterways, and the Soviets took advantage of these to manoeuvre river artillery to support their operations.
river barge n.
ΚΠ
1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. xxx. iv. 383 The Emperour embarked in certaine river-barges.
1773 R. Whitworth Rep. & Surv. Canal Waltham-Abbey to Moorfields 2 The Barges that navigate upon the River Lee (which indeed is the Case with all River Barges) always go with the same End foremost, whereas most Canal Barges go indifferently with either End first.
1892 Labour Comm. Gloss. Tally, a check account made by a person receiving goods;..used for the number of bricks or tons of other goods carried on canal boats and river barges.
1985 Mariner's Mirror 71 32 Locally these river barges [on the River Slaney] are known as gabbards and never as cots.
e. With the names of occupations, or people carrying out particular activities on a river.
river bailiff n.
ΚΠ
1818 Caledonian Mercury 9 Apr. River bailiffs.
1846 C. St. John Short Sketch Highlands (2006) vi. 58 It occurred to me to think of the river bailiff and watchers, several of whom I knew were employed on that part of the stream.
1905 W. Owen Let. 7 Aug. (1967) 25 He was fishing this morning when a river bailiff came up.
2002 Daily Tel. 27 Feb. 11/8 A river bailiff, Ronald Charnley, earlier told the inquest that he was surprised that anyone had attempted to walk through Stainforth Beck when the water was so high.
river carrier n.
ΚΠ
1825 W. Scott New Landlord's Tales I. 189 There was a river-carrier, whose boat went regularly from Teddington to London and back again, during each day.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. i. 1 He could not be a lighterman or river-carrier.
2008 Lloyd's List (Nexis) 10 July 4 China Yangtze Transportation Group, the largest river carrier in China, had reached an agreement to merge with the country's largest logistics service provider.
† river-consul n. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1873 C. G. Leland Egyptian Sketch-bk. v. 72 The assurances of dragomans, sailors, and river-consuls to the contrary, the birds are not fair game for everybody.
river farmer n.
ΚΠ
1823 London Mag. Nov. 463/2 When this calamity happens, the river-farmer..is found entirely unprovided.
2003 New Scientist 20 Dec. 74/2 We did finally bring a pair of bean geese to Slimbridge, pinched out of the nest by a Pasvik river farmer and bought for money.
† river finder n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 147/1 The dredgermen of the Thames, or river finders.
river fisherman n.
ΚΠ
1806 Colvin's Weekly Reg. in S. Blodget Economica 6 (table) Sea and river fishermen.
1888 G. B. Goode Amer. Fishes 434 For the benefit of our river fishermen I quote two recipes.
1997 J. Wilson Coarse Fishing Method Man. (1998) 63 (caption) Once weed has been removed by Jack Frost, winter long trotting for dace and roach becomes a joy to the wandering river fisherman.
river inspector n.
ΚΠ
1844 Glasgow Herald 16 Sept. This statement is confirmed by Lieut. Walker, the river inspector.
1875 ‘M. Twain’ in Atlantic Monthly Feb. 221/2 We had a fine company of these river-inspectors along, this trip.
1959 Times 4 Sept. 7/2 The river inspector had noticed the vessel leave Yarmouth at a high speed.
2007 West Briton (Nexis) 19 Apr. 74 He later became river inspector with Cornwall River Authority.
river pilot n.
ΚΠ
1760 Proc. Old Bailey 9 July 214/2 I am a river pilot; I have known the prisoner ever since he was born.
1883 Harper's Mag. Oct. 799/2 Mr. Clemens..in his character, first, as an apprentice to the occupation of a river pilot.
1925 W. Faulkner Let. in Thinking of Home (1992) 192 We got a bucket of live bait here, and picked up a river pilot, went on further to an old wharf and tied up to fish.
1986 T. Mo Insular Possession xvi. 160 The half-caste river-pilot has now to negotiate, grounding once or twice (fluvial equivalent of an awkward halt in conversation).
† river-shooter n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1844 T. J. Saunders Notes Wanderings in Himmala xxii. 176 I pointed out to the two river shooters, or stalkers, or runners, or whatever they might be styled..the expediency of going down a little further.
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports i. i. viii. 67/1 They afford better sport to the puntsman than to the river-shooter.
C2.
a. Instrumental and locative.
† river-blanched adj. poetic Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1788 W. Cowper On Feather-hangings Mrs. Montagu in Gentleman's Mag. June 542/1 The cock his arch'd tails' azure show, And,river-blanch'd the swan his snow.
river-borne adj.
ΚΠ
1709 D. Defoe Of Union 49 in Hist. Union Great Brit. The Scots being no otherwise Exempted from those Duties, than a great part of England is, who pay no Duty for all their River-born Coals.
1854 Times 13 Mar. 7/3 Sir H. Young had the pleasure of reporting..the arrival of the first cargo of river-borne wool.
1928 Daily Tel. 4 Dec. 12/4 Splitting the market into two, for river-borne and rail-borne supplies respectively.
2000 A. Ghosh Glass Palace (2001) x. 120 The streams' confluences were guarded by retrievers specialised in the capture of river-born logs.
river-caught adj.
ΚΠ
1876 Rep. Commissioner Fish & Fisheries (U.S.) 546 This is, of course, river-caught fish.
1924 A. J. Small Frozen Gold xii. 248 Others sat round the braziers and held great slabs of river-caught salmon against the red-hot grids.
2008 Abbotsford (Brit. Columbia) Times (Nexis) 8 July 18 To develop a water management program to benefit producers, consumers and markets for river-caught salmon.
river-cut adj.
ΚΠ
1870 Geol. Mag. Dec. 549 The seaward prolongation of their sub-aerial contour of sloping hill-sides and river-cut valleys.
1996 L. Al-Hafidh et al. Europe: Rough Guide (ed. 3) ii. xxvii. 1227 It's a tranquil daytime alternative to the capital, with a delightful river-cut centre, not to mention an active student-geared nightlife.
river-encircled adj.
ΚΠ
1849 R. S. Storrs in W. B. Sprague Women Old & New Test. 225 While his army is at a distance, besieging Rabbah, the river-encircled capital of the Ammonites, he is idling at home in luxurious ease.
1951 S. Spender World within World iii. 179 Then we came to that extraordinary river-encircled, mountain-cresting city of Toledo.
1965 Times 3 Mar. 15/1 The cathedral and castle, standing majestically on their river-encircled hill, provide a setting as ancient and noble as anyone could desire.
river-fed adj.
ΚΠ
1830 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 603/2 Thou glory of Argyleshire, rill-and-river-fed, sea-arm-like, floating in thy majesty, magnificent Lock Awe!]
1848 E. Peel Return 26 The river-fed lagoon, pike-haunted, black, And still as death.
1913 E. F. Benson Thorley Weir i. 21 A strip of river-fed grasses and herbs of the waterside.
1995 Canad. Geographic July 39 (caption) Dense grasses fringe this river-fed reservoir north of Eastend, Sask.
river-formed adj.
ΚΠ
1794 W. Marshall Gen. View Agric. Central Highlands Scotl. 10 A narrow chain of haughs, or river-formed lands.
1854 J. D. Hooker Himalayan Jrnls. I. 201 Beds of river-formed gravel.
1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 50 Glacial erosion modifies river-formed valleys into U-shapes.
river-girt adj. chiefly poetic
ΚΠ
1784 W. Roberts Poet. Attempts 63 The fertile plain of Padan Aram, river-girt, the most high prais'd.
1820 P. B. Shelley Hymn of Pan 3 The river-girt islands, Where loud waves are dumb.
1897 A. Austin Conversion of Winckelmann 83 I linger here, Pondering the dark inexplicable Night, Here by this river-girt sequestered shrine.
1980 P. Conroy Lords of Discipline 3 The city, river-girt, has a tyrannical need for order and symmetry.
† river-given adj. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1864 J. Raine Priory of Hexham I. Pref. 6 Heavy..with grain and grass which that river-given soil produces.
river-rounded adj. rare
ΚΠ
1879 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 79 Cuckoo-echoing, bell-swarmèd, lark-charmèd, rook-racked, river-rounded.
1984 Africa 54 70 All the enclosure entrances at Nqabeni had been carefully cobbled with river-rounded dolerite stones.
river-sundered adj. now rare
ΚΠ
1832 Ld. Tennyson Œnone in Poems (new ed.) 57 From many a vale And riversundered champaign clothed with corn.
1863 London Society Sept. 203 We fought the swarthy swordsmen From the river-sundered land.
2005 C. Lowney Vanished World (2006) 11 Muslims and Christians pursued the dream of unity for centuries, battering each other up and down the length of a mountainous, river-sundered Iberian Peneinsula.
river-worn adj.
ΚΠ
1841 Trans. Geol. Soc. 6 33 The cavities..have here been filled by river-worn gravel.
1883 Archaeologia Cantiana 15 92 On the terraces are found river-worn implements lying in the old gravel.
2008 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 15 Mar. (Gardening section) 4 They play on the idea of river-worn or ancient stones.
b. Objective.
river-crosser n.
ΚΠ
1914 I. L. Gordon Who was Who 5000 B.C. to Date 27 Cæsar, Julius, school book writer, river crosser, and a great politician who was not born in Ireland.
1936 M. Franklin All that Swagger xviii. 167 He saddled the river-crosser—a tall old grey.
1985 Pacific Affairs 58 291 Lady Manners is a probable river-crosser not simply because she unhesitatingly accepts the child of Daphne and Hari but because she is seen to have troubled to grasp the other culture.
c. Similative.
river-dark adj.
ΚΠ
1925 E. Sitwell Troy Park 100 She swims across the river-dark vast floors.
1996 C. Carson Opera Et Cetera 15 The disc-Warp wobbled, river-dark and vinyl-shiny.
river-thick adj. rare
ΚΠ
1924 E. Sitwell Sleeping Beauty xv. 53 How river-thick flow your fleeced locks.
C3.
river basin n. Physical Geography the tract of country drained by a river and its tributaries, divided from neighbouring ones by a watershed; cf. basin n. 11.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > land near river > [noun] > catchment area
valleyc1790
basin1804
river basin1824
watershed1839
catchment1844
catchment basin1844
drainage1866
gathering-ground1877
drainage-basin1882
catchment area2001
1824 Geogr., Hist., & Statist. Repository 1 74 This uncertainty, however, which attends the limits of the formations, does not extend to the river basins.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 19 A map..completely divided into river-basins.
1939 E. D. Laborde tr. E. de Martonne Shorter Physical Geogr. (rev. ed.) xi. 152 In every river basin there is a close connection between the main stream and its tributaries and sub-tributaries.
1999 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 22 Apr. 37 (advt.) Explores the hydropolitics of six of the world's largest river basins—Nile, Parana–La Plata, Jordan, Euphrates–Tigris, Ganges–Brahmaputra–Barak, Mekong.
river blindness n. [so called because of its prevalence along tropical rivers, in which the flies which are the disease vectors breed] the parasitic disease onchocerciasis; blindness due to this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > [noun] > onchocerciasis
onchocerciasis1911
river blindness1952
1952 Times 19 Sept. 2/5 Mr. Lyttelton..said that there was no problem in all the Colonial territories of more pressing importance than to find a cure for ‘river blindness’.
1972 Daily Tel. 22 Nov. 4/4 One French project is to eradicate ‘river blindness’, an insect-born disease which has ravaged and depopulated the valleys of the Volta rivers.
2006 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 5 Oct. 42/3 My grimmest memories are of the victims of river blindness in West Africa.
river-boy n. freq. somewhat depreciative a boy or young man who lives, works, or spends a lot of time on or near a river.
ΚΠ
1791 E. Darwin Bot. Garden: Pt. I i. 117 Or sport in groups with River-Boys, that lave Their silken limbs amid the dashing wave.
1839 J. H. Perkins Report in J. P. Foote Schools of Cincinnati (1855) xiv. 120 Among the street-idlers, of our western cities, are found also many of those ‘river boys’, who if not criminal, are versed in every form and degree of vice.
1894 W. Cather in Nebraska State Jrnl. 12 Aug. 13/4 The only ambition they are ever guilty of is that vague yearning which stirs in the breasts of all river boys, to go down the river into the big world some day... But they never go.
2005 J. Martyn Ringfort to Runway ii. i. 101 It was gone five and the ‘river-boys’, were in, noisily kitting off and scrubbing up midst high spirited banter.
River Brethren n. U.S. members of any of several Christian groups originating around 1770 among German settlers on the Susquehanna river in Pennsylvania, characterized particularly by the performance of baptisms only in rivers.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > Christianity > other sects and movements > River Brethren > [noun]
River Brethren1849
1849 Hist. All Relig. Denominations U.S. 554 The River Brethren recognize three orders of clergy: Bishops, Elders, and Deacons.
1854 J. Belcher Relig. Denominations U.S. 919 Others were organized into a body called, The River Brethren, partly from the locality in which they were first found, near the Susquehanna, and Conestoga, and chiefly from their baptisms being celebrated only in rivers.
1951 H. Giles Harbin's Ridge xxiii. 202 And they baptized different, too. Face forward in the water, three times. In the early days, back in Pennsylvania, they'd been named the River Brethren on account of it, I'd heard.
2001 M. C. Reynolds Plain Women 5 River Brethren descendants perpetuated the memory of this experience in the belief system itself, creating a sense of ethnic identification based on lineage, national origin, and shared faith.
river bus n. a boat which stops at designated places to pick up paying passengers; = water taxi n. at water n. Compounds 7.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel for transporting people or goods > passenger vessel > [noun] > water taxi
taxi boat1909
water taxi1921
river bus1929
1929 Times 2 Dec. 8/4 If river buses plied through the dock area slum dwellers could always get a breath of fresh air and a change of scenery for a few pence.
1997 I. Sinclair Lights out for Territory (1998) 257 From the diamond-paned dome of the lighthouse's lamp-room, you could watch the procession of empty river buses on the shuttle to the City Airport.
river capture n. Physical Geography the natural diversion of the headwaters of one stream into the channel of another, frequently as a result of rapid headward erosion of the valley of the latter stream; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > action of river > [noun] > capture
piracy1889
river capture1890
capture1898
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > erosion or weathering > [noun] > headward erosion > capture
piracy1889
river capture1890
capture1898
1890 W. M. Davis & J. W. Wood in Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 24 408 We must therefore regard river capture of this kind as one of the normal lines of progress in river development.
1937 S. W. Wooldridge & R. S. Morgan Physical Basis Geogr. xv. 211 The river-captures of the first cycle will still be legible in the pattern of the drainage.
1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 76/1 Possible signs of river capture that can often be detected in the landscape include windgaps and elbows of capture, incision of the capturing stream below the capture, and the evident misfit nature of the beheaded stream.
2007 Geomorphology 84 345/1 Sediment provenance characteristics can also be affected by river capture.
river card n. see sense 8b.
river channel n. the channel through which a river flows.figurative in quot. 1629.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > system > [noun] > course
gangeOE
streama1552
train1570
sweep1596
river channel1629
currency1657
thread1691
current1708
urn1726
river run1927
1629 A. Top Bk. Prayses (new ed.) ii. xlvi. sig. Kv So the Church of God haveing allwayes the Ark and the doctrine therof, called the river-chanels of the citty, by them to instruct them: fear nothing.
1704 in Early Rec. Town of Providence (Rhode Island) (1896) XI. 81 The Towne surveior only laid out..a Piece of land forty foote square, & there being Considerable land betweene it and the River Channill.
1845 Encycl. Metrop. VI. 705/2 By the waste of the uplands..the river-channels are raised.
1945 H. L. Chhibber India I. xiv. 187 The Newer Alluvium is confined to the river channels and their flood plains and is locally termed as Khaddar.
2006 Nature 27 July 362/1 Images of Saturn's largest moon Titan..invoke a sense of familiarity: river channels meander downhill to damp lake-beds.
river claim n. now historical a mining claim that extends into a river.
ΚΠ
1851 Alta California (San Francisco) 15 Aug. 1/5 There is great confidence exhibited by the miners in the river claims.
1906 J. Park Text-bk. Mining Geol. ii. 18 In river claims, where the gold has been derived from the denudation of gold-bearing lodes, fragments of quartz with adhering pieces of the previous metal are often met with.
1994 Business Times (Singapore) (Nexis) 8 Jan. (Executive Lifestyles section) 6 They also found themselves obliged to sift the river claims that Caucasian gold-hunters had abandoned.
river corridor n. a narrow stretch of land comprising a river and the areas adjacent to it, esp. one important as a route for movements and communications; a (narrow) river valley.
ΚΠ
1924 F. K. Ward From China to Hkamti Long x. 168 In the Marches, east of the river corridor—where the Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, and Irrawaddy swing out of Tibet—the rainfall is far less on the west side.
1969 Times 8 Feb. 8/5 The 7th [Division] is reckoned to be trying slowly to work from Cambodia down the Saigon river corridor.
1989 Nature Conservancy May–June 35/2 A conservation easement on 152 acres safeguards a stretch of river corridor—nesting habitat for federally protected bald eagles.
2000 Up Here (Yellowknife, N.W. Territories) Apr. 52/3 We'd passed other sites along the river corridor where the circular stones used to anchor skin tents marked centuries-old summer settlements.
river crossing n. (a) a place at which a river may be crossed; (b) an act of crossing a river.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement over, across, through, or past > [noun] > across
traversing1524
going-over1556
traverse1563
crossing1575
river crossing1839
traversal1851
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > place where something may be crossed
ferry1286
passage?a1400
trajecta1552
crossing1632
trajection1637
pass1649
rack1659
crossing-place1763
river crossing1839
transit1852
1839 Rep. Engineers Western Railroad Corporation 8 At the third river crossing above Root's, the grade of the approximate line is 12 feet below that of the final location.
1870 J. E. Cooke Hammer & Rapier x. 253 It forced Gen. Grant to make two river crossings if he wished to reinforce either wing by moving troops from the other.
1997 G. Hosking Russia (1998) i. 13 Leaving fortresses (ostrogi ) behind them at major river crossings to consolidate their advance, the Cossack pioneers reached the Pacific Ocean by 1639.
2001 Adventure Trav. July–Aug. 49/2 The most useful item was a waterproof 35 litre dry bag,..which kept my set of sleeping clothes dry during rain and river crossings.
river cult n. a religious cult which venerates and attaches particular spiritual importance to rivers.
ΚΠ
1899 Amer. Anthropologist 1 762 (title) The Cherokee River Cult.
1963 A. Baraka Blues People iv. 38 The priests of the river cults were among the most powerful and influential men in African society.
1965 W. H. Auden About House (1966) 29 Shrines where a subarctic fire-cult could meet and marry A river-cult from torrid Greece.
2000 Harvard Stud. Classical Philol. 100 481 One way..involves Roman governors' observing local river cults in hopes of enlisting the support of the land itself.
river deity n. (in a polytheistic religious system) a god or goddess presiding over a river.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > of specific things > of sea or river
sea-god1565
sea-king1582
river god1595
sea-maid1600
river deity1613
ocean god1647
sea-goddess1710
ocean-king1725
sea-maiden1893
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage vi. i. 561 Some imagined him to be Nilus the Riuer-deitie.
1718 N. Amhurst Strephon's Revenge 2 Two River-Deities on either Side Pour'd from their fruitful Urns the rushing Tide; Isis and Charwell , thro' the World renown'd.
1853 H. N. Humphreys Coin Collector's Man. I. vi. 61 The crab, being perhaps at an early period made sacred to the river deity, became the principal type of the money of this city [sc. Agrigentum].
2002 Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. 122 24 Various considerations..point to the identification of the Hero as a river deity.
river engineering n. the branch of civil engineering concerned with the improvement and control of rivers.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > engineering > [noun] > branches of
waterwork?a1560
civil engineeringc1770
water engineering1787
millwrighting1821
engineering science1826
hydraulic engineering1835
river engineering1842
structural engineering1859
industrial engineering1860
chemical engineering1861
sanitary engineering1868
biological engineering1898
control engineering1914
radio engineering1915
environmental engineering1946
systems engineering1946
bioengineering1950
value engineering1959
biomedical engineering1961
geoengineering1962
macro-engineering1964
microengineering1964
terotechnology1970
hydroengineering1971
civil1975
mechatronics1976
knowledge engineering1977
1842 Sat. Mag. 17 Sept. 105/2 Unless these unfavourable features can be removed by successful river-engineering, the navigation of the Danube will always be attended with many disadvantages and delays.
1882 L. F. Vernon-Harcourt Rivers & Canals I. p. v In preparing a course of lectures on ‘River and Canal Engineering’..it appeared to me that a book might be useful.
1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) XI. 585/1 Technical knowledge is inadequate to explain fully the relationship between stream form and valley slope, but it is necessary in river engineering to recognize it.
1998 Eng. Nature Mag. May 6/1 Habitat loss, including river engineering and dredging works, is thought to make the vole more vulnerable to attack by wild mink.
river family n. (also with capital initials) each of a group of long-established, wealthy families living in the Hudson River valley in New York State; usually in plural.
ΚΠ
1835 Atkinson's Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 14 Nov. 1/7 Before the Earl sailed for the new world, Mr. Livingston, the common ancestor of the opulent Hudson river family of that name, was in London.]
1866 W. H. Bogart Who goes There? ii. 89 The old river families of New York had not quite lost their caste of influence.
1933 P. Wilstach Hudson River Landings ix. 212 Miss Philipse was esteemed one of the most beautiful and accomplished young women among the river families.
1950 H. N. MacCracken Hickory Limb 136 Friend of most members of the ‘River Families’, he had been active in nearly every town movement. The rowing regatta owed everything to his friendly aid.
2005 J. C. Ghee & J. Spence Eleanor Roosevelt i. 9 She was a child of the river families society.
river frontage n. land attached to a riverside building which stretches from the building to the river.
ΚΠ
1807 Times 20 Nov. 4/5 (advt.) The premises are spacious, with advantage of extensive river frontage, for the purpose of laying craft.
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. vi. 46 This description applies to the river-frontage.
1899 Daily News 9 May 3/1 There is a river frontage to the Thames of 160 ft. with private dock and lay-by for three barges.
1949 Musical Times Nov. 409/1 The building will look across ornamental gardens to a new river frontage connecting the bridges.
2000 Canberra Sunday Times 11 June 77/6 (advt.) South Coast , 119 acres, river frontage, rain forest, views.
river fount n. [frequently (in plural) translating ancient Greek ποταμῶν πηγαί or πηγαί ποταμῶν (plural) sources of the rivers] poetic the source of a river.
ΚΠ
1831 W. J. Blew tr. Homer First Bk. of Iliad 68 Lapp'd on Cynthus' mount, Fast by the palm that shades Inopus' river-fount [Gk. ἐπ᾽ Ἰνωποῖο ῥεέθροις].
1855 T. T. Lynch Rivulet lxxxii. 120 A river-fount unsealing In our dry hearts.
1896 F. B. Money-Coutts Poems p. ix If from the pastures by the river fount One voice belovèd to the wanderer mount.
1986 D. Furley tr. Euripides in J. H. Betts et al. Stud. T. B. L. Webster I. 109 The sea, the river founts [Gk. πηγαί τε ποταμῶν] forbid me crossing them.
river glimpse n. a partial or brief view of a river afforded by a particular location or vantage point.
ΚΠ
1843 S. T. Hall Phreno-magnet Aug. 199 The beauty and quiet of the scenery and the time—the greening pastures and smiling river-glimpses.
1875 ‘M. Twain’ in Atlantic Monthly Jan. 70/1 The ‘point’ above the town, and the ‘point’ below, bounding the river-glimpse and turning it into a sort of sea.
1974 Times 11 May 25/5 (advt.) River glimpses from the balcony at the Chapter House.
1999 G. C. Bolton & J. Gregory Claremont vi. 125 Victoria Avenue and the adjacent streets with river glimpses nevertheless continued to be seen as the pick of Claremont.
river gravel n. gravel formed on the bed of a river.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > stony material > [noun] > gravel or shingle > gravel > type of
flood gravelc1420
river gravel1600
blue metal1699
slither1811
flint-gravel1865
plateau gravel1872
duck-gravel1885
peastone1909
pea gravel1911
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique vi. xiii. 751 The vine shooting out into ouer many branches, must bee cut off verie short, and if for all this it giue not ouer, it must bee barred at the rootes, and riuer grauell laid round about the stocke.
1784 J. Fitzpatrick Ess. Gaol-abuses 53 The best and firmest mortar is prepared of quick lime and sharp river gravel, or bank gravel well washed.
1874 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 30 229 A careful examination of this very interesting deposit convinces me that we have here preserved portions of an old river-gravel.
1995 This Old House May–June 114/1 First, unscreened, unwashed river gravel was used, weakening the concrete.
river-head n. the source of a river; also figurative; cf. head n.1 38a.
ΚΠ
?1610 J. Fletcher Faithfull Shepheardesse iii. i. sig. F3v Heres a Mortall almost dead, Falne into my Riuer head.
1685 in J. Dryden Misc. ii. 408 It..Then to our Springs and River heads ascends.
1754 H. Sharpe Let. 6 June in W. H. Browne Arch. Maryland (1888) VI. 70 The Description of Distances & Bearings of the River Heads on the Eastern Shore.
1865 R. Burton in Sel. Papers (1924) 97 The lands lying eastward of the Gaboon river-head.
1942 R. Nathan Sea-gull Cry viii. 112 He walked home through the darkness, down the long road to the river-head.
2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 10 Sept. b26/1 A renewed sense of Brancusi's sensitivity for materials, his spirituality and his importance as the riverhead of Minimalism.
River Indian n. now historical and rare a member of any of various North American Indian peoples inhabiting the area around a river in New England, esp. the Connecticut or the Hudson.
ΚΠ
1676 I. Mather Brief Hist. Warr Indians New-Eng. 22 The Narraganset, and Nipmuck, and Quahaog, and River Indians, being all come together.
1785 T. Jefferson Notes Virginia 388 The Mohawks carried on a furious war down the Hudson against the Mohiccons and river indians.
1871 C. M. Yonge Pioneers & Founders i. 8 The Pequots were..at war..with the Narragansets, or river Indians.
1978 Handbk. Amer. Indians XV. 211/2 Starting in the early 1660s, English colonial authorities used the name River Indians for the Mahican and other Algonquian-speaking Indians residing on the Hudson River.
river-keeper n. a person whose job is to maintain the good condition of a river and its banks.
ΚΠ
1828 Belfast News Let. 21 Nov. An Individual named Martin Culkeen, a River Keeper to the Moy Fishery Company.
1894 C. H. Cook Thames Rights 127 To every honorary assistant river-keeper they give a ticket to fish from the weirs.
1941 Jrnl. Animal Ecol. 10 359 Fish culturalists and interested river-keepers.
1991 Oxfordshire Bull. Nov. 2/3 Long sections of the Thames bank have been protected with willow spiling, which is a traditional river-keepers' technique.
river lane n. a lane running alongside, or leading to, a river; (also) a river as a route for travel, a riverway.
ΚΠ
1832 Times 31 Oct. 4/5 (advt.) A large walled garden in River-lane adjoining, amply planted with choice wall trees, shrubs, &c.
1865 Harper's Mag. Mar. 424 Out of the clover and blue-eyed grass He turned them into the river-lane; One after another he let them pass, Then fastened the meadow bars again.
1968 G. Jones Hist. Vikings iii. iii. 224 The river-lanes of France and the Low Countries.
1978 C. Tomlinson Shaft 43 They..narrow out into A now-smooth riverlane.
river lot n. chiefly Canadian (now historical) a lot bordering on a river; spec. a long, narrow farm lot extending back from a river, esp. one along the St Lawrence river, or in the Red River Settlement.
ΚΠ
1704 in C. J. Hoadly Public Rec. Colony of Connecticut (1868) IV. 493 Part of a lot called the River lot, purchased of the said Nathan Holt.
1780 Quebec Gaz. 27 Apr. 3/1 To be Sold by Auction..a River lot situate in the Lower-town of Quebec in St. Peter's Street.
1853 F. B. Hough Hist. St. Lawrence & Franklin Counties 342 He..was instructed to sell river lots at $2.50, and rear lots at $2 per acre.
1882 Prince Albert (Sask.) Times 8 Nov. 6/1 It is to be hoped that the government will carry out the same policy here, in the North West, as has been established in Manitoba, with regard to river lots.
1968 E. S. Russenholt Heart of Continent ii. v. 76 Families already living along the Assiniboine, exercise ‘squatter's rights’, and lay claim to the newly-surveyed River Lots.
1995 Beaver June–July 32/1 Canada readily agreed to accept all possessions of land in Red River, including the hay privileges extending beyond the actual river lots.
river nymph n. a nymph thought to inhabit a river as its tutelary spirit; cf. naiad n. 1a.
ΚΠ
1633 T. May Reigne Henry II ii. sig. C8v The river-nymphes, that saw her comming, thought Some sweete atchievement now was to be wrought.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xi. viii. 160 Those fair River Nymphs, ycleped of old the Napææ, or the Naïades.
1845 A. Strickland Lives Queens of Eng. VII. 445 Her next office was to..dance her ballet with her river-nymphs.
2000 Rev. Eng. Stud. 51 595 Ovidian myths where female river nymphs combine with male spirits of mountains.
River Ouse n. (also river ooze) rare alcoholic drink; = booze n. 1b. [ < River Ouse, the name of a number of rivers in England, used as rhyming slang for booze n.; with form river ooze compare ooze n.1]
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > [noun]
drink1042
liquor1340
bousea1350
cidera1382
dwale1393
sicera1400
barrelc1400
strong drinkc1405
watera1475
swig1548
tipple1581
amber1598
tickle-brain1598
malt pie1599
swill1602
spicket1615
lap1618
John Barleycornc1625
pottle1632
upsy Englisha1640
upsy Friese1648
tipplage1653
heartsease1668
fuddle1680
rosin1691
tea1693
suck1699
guzzlea1704
alcohol1742
the right stuff1748
intoxicant1757
lush1790
tear-brain1796
demon1799
rum1799
poison1805
fogram1808
swizzle1813
gatter1818
wine(s) and spirit(s)1819
mother's milkc1821
skink1823
alcoholics1832
jough1834
alky1844
waipiro1845
medicine1847
stimulant1848
booze1859
tiddly1859
neck oil1860
lotion1864
shrab1867
nose paint1880
fixing1882
wet1894
rabbit1895
shicker1900
jollop1920
mule1920
giggle-water1929
rookus juice1929
River Ouse1931
juice1932
lunatic soup1933
wallop1933
skimish1936
sauce1940
turps1945
grog1946
joy juice1960
1931 J. Brophy & E. Partridge Songs & Slang Brit. Soldier: 1914–1918 (ed. 3) 350 River Ouse, a booze, a drink(ing).
1962 R. Cook Crust on its Uppers ix. 76 The place still bulging with smoke and river ooze.
river pay n. now historical a payment made to sailors by a merchant or the captain of a merchant vessel, usually for work done in preparing the ship for a voyage.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > [noun] > sailor's pay > types of
address1562
full pay1579
river pay1708
flag-pay1719
port pay1758
allotment1766
portage1809
1708 J. Dolliffe in Papers T. Bowrey (1927) ii. vi. 308 All river pay then made up.
1778 in Arch. Maryland (1897) XVI. 511 We expected you would be obliged to give River Pay.
1825 G. F. Lyon Brief Narr. Attempt to reach Repulse Bay 2 On the 16th Commissioner Cunningham arrived from Chatham, and the ship's company received their river pay, with three months' advance.
1981 Jrnl. Transport Hist. Mar. 44 The master had to pay out two guineas plus a month's wages per man... Whilst in Antigua in 1803 they received an extra £2 4s, on average, for ‘river pay’.
river pig n. North American slang = river-driver n.; cf. river hog n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > lumbering > [noun] > transport of logs > one who
rafter1741
driver1825
river-driver1825
rear crew1851
loadera1862
skidder1870
floater1889
river hog1902
river rat1905
boom-man1908
river pig1908
rearing crew1944
1908 S. E. White Riverman xxii. 197 I don't bet those Saginaw river-pigs are any more two-fisted than the boys on this river. I'd go up and clean 'em out.
1947 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 8 Mar. 20/1 River pigs bristled all around him, men who hadn't seen a town or a saloon for nine months.
1994 C. A. Schwantes Hard Traveling 149 (caption) The men who worked the log drives were often known as river pigs.
river pirate n. (a) a person who commits or practises piracy on a river; (b) = pirate n. 6.
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the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > types of river > [noun] > specific
headwater1535
Sabbatical river1613
salt river1659
tide-river1739
river pirate1743
salmon river1753
artery1787
warp-river1799
feeder1825
lost river1843
banker1848
tidal river1877
pirate1889
1743 Genuine Acct. Malefactors 5/1 Capt. Keble..had linked himself into a Gang, who used to call themselves River Pirates. These were a Sort of Thieves who robb'd Ships as they lay at Anchor on the River Thames.
c1849 ‘N. Buntline’ B'hoys of N.Y. iv. 30 Alvorado began to see how well his friend and rival River Pirate was situated.
1889 W. M. Davis in Science 8 Feb. 108/1 There is a little river-pirate in eastern Pennsylvania unsuspected by its rural neighbors... The pirate is Deer Run, and its victim is the north-east branch of Perkiomen Creek.
1914 R. S. Tarr College Physiogr. i. xv. 566 Anything that accelerates headwater erosion on one side of a divide..gives opportunity for the pushing back of the divide and the possible capture of headwaters, or even of good-sized streams, by the successful river pirate.
1962 S. E. Finer Man on Horseback xii. 230 The force of river pirates known as the Binh Xuyen.
2005 T. Hall Salaam Brick Lane vi. 147 I'd used it to capture river pirates on tape in the Sundarbans.
river police n. a police force, or a department of one, with responsibility for patrolling rivers.
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1799 P. Colquhon Gen. View Depredations committed on Prop. in Port of London (advt.) The share which several of them have already had in promoting the design of a River Police.
1891 R. Kipling Brugglesmith in Many Inventions 271 And all for the sake of a filthy half-crown to be arrested by the River Police at my time o' life!
1974 Times 15 Apr. 2/1 It sank before river police could note its registration marks.
2004 Independent 26 July 3/3 More recently, river police observed a bottlenose dolphin swimming at Blackfriars Bridge in central London.
river queen n. (frequently with capital initials) something regarded as the finest of its type on a river; (originally and chiefly U.S.) spec. (a name for) a riverboat.Best known as the name of the presidential boat during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln (1860–5).
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1834 F. D. Hemans Water-lily in Scenes & Hymns of Life 237 Oh! beautiful thou art, Thou..stately River-Queen.
1867 E. Lazarus Poems & Transl. 16 The sweet river queens, Are so dazzlingly fair.
1872 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Sentinel 26 Aug. She immediately returned to Detroit, arriving on Friday noon in tow of the tug River Queen.
1953 D. Grubb Night of Hunter ii. 148 Up river—beyond the hills—the faint soft voice of the old river queen sounded for the bend.
2002 W. C. Harris in G. Borritt Lincoln Enigma vii. 122 On March 23 the president left Washington on the River Queen amidst speculation that he was going to seek an end to the war.
river risk n. Insurance any of the risks to which shipping is exposed on rivers; (also) an insurance policy covering these risks.
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1800 Rep. Cases King's Bench VIII. 155 After the ship's arrival in the Thames they effected other policies with the public insurance offices against river risks.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 576 River-Risk, a policy of insurance from the docks to the sea, at any port.
1934 Times 29 Sept. 9/3 Mr. H. M. Merriman..spoke on cargo risks, and there was also a discussion on river risks on the Western Waterways.
2005 National Underwriter (Nexis) 21 Mar. 22 Their river risks cover the scenic float trips no higher than Class 3 rapids.
river sand n. In plural a sandbank by a river.
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1735 J. Atkins Voy. Guinea 184 Dust Gold is the common Traffick, the best comes hither from the neighbouring island Kingdoms of Dinkara, Akim, and Arcana, and is got (we are told) out of the River-Sands.
1868 Amer. Naturalist 2 33 Its remains, like those of the mastodon, are found at the bottom of swamps and in the upper strata of river sands.
2008 Sunday Independent (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 21 Dec. 32 What is this thing that looks like a crab from the river sands?
river shed n. an area or ridge of land that separates waters flowing to different rivers or river basins; cf. watershed n.1 1.
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1882 R. L. Stevenson Merry Men in Cornhill Mag. June ii. 686 Looking down the river shed and abroad on the fat lowlands.
1991 R. Krueger et al. This Land of Ours vi. 208/1 In Canada dams have been used widely for another purpose: to transfer water from one rivershed to another.
river stair n. (in plural) stairs leading down from a building, street, etc., to the edge of a river.
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1749 J. Salthouse Wood's Compl. Body Conveyancing II. 276 (margin) Wall at the River Stairs.
1884 H. C. Merivale Florien v. 120 Have you the boat ready by the river-stairs, Ferrers, as the Captain commanded us?
1997 World Archaeol. 29 139 The 246 sets of river stairs currently recognized by the Port of London Authority on the tidal Thames also merit study.
river state n. a state through which a river flows, or which has a river as a frontier or border; chiefly in plural referring to all the states connected in these ways to a particular river.
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1832 Times 18 Aug. 2/3 It never seems to have entered into the contemplation of the diplomatists of the river States at Mentz, that any foreigner could claim the right of entering the Rhine under their Convention.
1845 Southern Literary Messenger 11 578/1 There, too, should be present..all the river States, to deliberate upon the present condition of those great arteries of commerce among them.
1939 E. Lengyel Danube iii. ii. 365 In addition to the river States, France, Great Britain, Prussia and Sardinia obtained representation on this Commission by authority of the Treaty of Paris of 1856.
1976 Daily Times (Lagos) 4 Sept. 2/2 Divisional administration in the River state has been abolished with immediate effect.
1996 Nation (N.Y.) 19 Feb. 15/1 Competition among the river states surpassed any back-alley cutthroat game of Texas Hold 'Em.
river steamboat n. U.S. = river steamer n.
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1828 Daily National Jrnl. (Washington, D.C.) 28 Nov. If any of the river steamboats should not get business enough, they could move into the Lakes.
1857 M. H. Stacey Jrnl. 24 May in Uncle Sam's Camels (1929) ii. 28 What an immense difference we find between the quiet Sundays at home and the bustling ones on board these river steamboats.
1902 J. Conrad Youth 67 I was going to take charge of a two-penny-halfpenny river-steamboat with a penny whistle attached!
2005 K. Hillstrom & L. C. Hillstrom Industr. Revol. in Amer. III. 28 The golden age of river steamboats in the United States ended with the first shots of the American Civil War.
river steamer n. originally U.S. a steamboat operating on a river, esp. one carrying passengers.
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1831 N.-Y. Spectator 23 Dec. She..appeared almost as steady as your Hudson river steamers.
1833 E. T. Coke Subaltern's Furlough v. 70 The American river steamers are noble vessels.
1903 J. Joyce Let. 8 Feb. (1966) II. 26 I..came back to Paris in one of the little river-steamers.
1936 Discovery Dec. 379/2 The ordinary river-steamer services.
1999 Cathedral Music Apr. 31/1 One of our diversions..was to dance about on the timber logs seasoning in the river by Southwark Bridge and allow ourselves to be rocked on them by the wash of passing river steamers.
river stone n. now rare a diamond found during river-digging; cf. sense 7.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > diamond > [noun] > other types of diamond
violastrec1400
lasque1678
black diamond1689
carbonadoa1853
carbonate1860
carbon1869
river stone1873
fish-eye1882
white1895
1873 Chambers's Jrnl. 26 July 470/1 No dry-dug rubbish about that lot! River-stones, every one!
1887 J. Mackenzie Austral Afr. II. iv. iv. 87 The ‘river stones’, as they are called, are usually more valuable than those found in ‘dry diggings’ or mines.
1904 L. J. Spencer tr. M. Bauer Precious Stones I. ii. 186 The higher quality of the river stones as compared with those from the dry diggings does not militate against the truth of this theory as to their origin.
river swamp n. an area of waterlogged land adjoining a river.
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1741 P. Tailfer et al. Narr. Georgia 104 Beyond this, eastward, is a River Swamp; westward a small Body of Wood-land.
1849 W. T. Power Sketches in N.Z. 72 A few curlews, whale-birds, sand-pipers, and wild ducks frequent the coast and river swamps.
1919 N. C. Brown Forest Products 83 Throughout the tropical regions, coasts, and river swamps of South America and Central America, the mangrove occurs in great abundance.
2000 Ecology 81 2732/1 The edge of the river swamp is relatively well defined by an upland area that has frequently been converted to agriculture.
river system n. a large river and its tributaries considered as a single entity.
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the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > system > [noun]
water system1833
river system1834
1834 Penny Cycl. II. 468/1 Extensive terraces, through which the great river-systems descend to the low lands.
1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 272/1 In a vast river system like that of the Mississippi, the area of drainage is..extensive.
1962 H. R. Loyn Anglo-Saxon Eng. i. 9 For the main part the river-systems drain west in this area.
2005 Nature 14 Apr. 831/1 About half of the total volume delivered to the Arctic comes from Eurasian river systems and amounts to about 1.9 Berings.
river terrace n. Physical Geography each of a series of raised terraces alongside a river that are the remnants of former flood plains, river beds, etc., formed during earlier periods of erosion and deposition.
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1825 Edinb. Philos. Jrnl. 12 318 Neither, I believe, are there any other lacustrine terraces in Scotland, but those just mentioned, although river terraces are very common.
1908 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 175 108 The river terraces of outwash gravel.
1969 G. M. Bennison & A. E. Wright Geol. Hist. Brit. Isles vi. xvi. 366 River terraces..are remnants of former floodplains dissected by the rejuvenation of rivers consequent upon uplift.
1999 National Trust Mag. Spring 35/5 The River Medlock in this area has a stony bed, fair water quality, well-developed meanders, river terraces and steep river cliffs.
river thief n. a person who steals from boats on a river, esp. one who uses a boat to move around the river in search of opportunities for theft; frequently with reference to the Hudson River in New York; cf. river pirate n.
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the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > river-thief
lumper1781
light horsemen1799
river thief1800
tier-ranger1853
1800 Edinb. Mag. July 55/2 There has for a considerable time existed a most extensive and alarming system of depredation upon the cargoes of outward-bound ships, in various ways, by this class of river thieves.
1853 C. Dickens Down with Tide in Househ. Words 5 Feb. 481/2 River thieves can always get rid of stolen property..by dropping it overboard.
1882 J. D. McCabe New York xxxiv. 518 Another dangerous class of criminals are the river thieves, or ‘River Pirates’.
1944 Amer. Anthropologist 46 472 For their ‘guard duty’ against river thieves, they can pick all the corn they wish, and receive seed for bean and potato patches.
2005 E. W. Blumhofer Her Heart can See xi. 291 The city's most famous onetime river thief and drunken thug was honored by an overflow crowd of respectable Protestants at the Broadway Tabernacle.
river wall n. a wall at the edge of a river, esp. one forming the boundary of the river, built to contain or direct the flow of water.
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1591 J. Harington tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso xvi. xxxv. 123/2 Vnto the riuer walls he closely came.
1740 N. Salmon Hist. & Antiq. Essex 2/1 These, though but River-walls, are called Sea-walls, as may appear by a licence granted to the Abbess of Barking.
1837 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 12/1 The whole to be surrounded by a river wall, 30 feet high.
1884 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xv. 110 Between the river-wall and the water is always a strip of land.
1948 Sci. News Let. 15 May 318/2 We find river towns becoming increasingly concerned about the height and strength of their river walls.
1998 Daily Tel. 17 July 13/3 Cutting back more than 1,000 metres of steel-piled river walls to form terraces for reeds and saltmarsh plants was conceived by the Environment Agency to complement the improving water quality in the Thames.
river wash n. matter deposited on the land by a flooding river.
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1839 H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall xiii. 406 Among wood, moss, leaves, and nuts,..described as river-wash.
1899 G. Lacy Pict. of Trav. 173 The ‘dry diggings’ are thirty miles to the south-east of Pniel. They are so called because the gems are not found in river-wash, but in dry tufa, which has apparently never been in contact with water.
1994 Canad. Workshop Aug. 6/1 A 16′ x 24′ enclosure that has a foundation of river wash (a soft, rounded gravel that provides exercise without hurting the dogs' paws).
river washing n. (a) the action or an act of prospecting for gold or other mineral deposits in a river bed (cf. panning n.1 2); (b) an instance of a river washing over a flood plain and depositing sediment (now rare).
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1831 W. Jacob Hist. Inq. into Prod. & Consumption Precious Metals II. xxv. 243 The river washing is at present the most extensively practised.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. Prel. 15 To form, from the rain and river washings of eight shires, lowlands of a fertility inexhaustible.
1914 Public Health Rep. (U.S. Public Health Service) 29 342 Here the surface is overlaid with a deep humus, in part mixed with gravel from former river washings, with a gravelly substratum.
1949 M. Cary Geogr. Background Greek & Rom. Hist (1950) ix. 246 The Gallic temples were irresistibly rich in gold from river washings in the Cévennes and Pyrenees.
1982 Cahiers d'Études Africaines 22 245 Throughout the forest country gold was obtainable both by mining and by river washing.
river-winding adj. poetic rare full of winding rivers.
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1951 S. Spender World within World ii. 39 I used to go for long walks and bicycle rides into the hilly, tree-scattered, river-winding countryside.
C4.
a. Forming the names of fishes and other animals found in or near rivers (frequently used to distinguish them from related species found in the sea: cf. sea n. Compounds 6b – Compounds 6d).
river bird n.
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1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes II. ix. xix. 1653 The Chinois vse them to take fish, for this creature swimmeth on the water as other riuer Birds.
1705 tr. W. Bosman New Descr. Coast of Guinea xv. 261 A certain River-Bird, very fine.
1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-mulgars iv. 52 They heard the trump-billed riverbirds calling their secrets one to another.
1998 P. Chapman 1999 Good Curry Guide 98 Don't panic about Heron Tikka, however—it's not that elusive, well-loved river bird, it's ‘marinated deer meat barbecued in the tandoor’.
river fly n.
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1730 T. Boreman Descr. Three Hundred Animals iii. 180 They feed on River-Flies, watry Insects, and some small Fish.
1866 A. C. Swinburne At Eleusis in Laus Veneris (1867) 234 The sea And waters..Preserve the people of fin-twinkling fish, And river-flies feed thick upon the smooth.
1958 J. Carew Black Midas vi. 128 A river fly 'lighted on the tip of Belle's nose.
2002 S. Burke Deadwater viii. 71 Jess slouched back against the railings. A coronation of river flies was forming around his head and neck.
b.
river bass n. U.S. any of several freshwater sunfishes of the family Centrarchidae, esp. the smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Centrarchidae (sun-fish) > [noun] > member of genus Micropterus (black bass)
trout1604
black perch1685
Welshman1709
Oswego bass1758
river bass1820
Oswego1857
ringeye1877
slough bass1877
small-mouthed bass1877
smallmouth1880
smallmouth bass1880
smallmouth black bass1880
small-mouthed black bass1881
trout-perch1883
bronze-backer1888
smallie1952
1820 C. S. Rafinesque Ichthyologia Ohiensis 32 Trout River-bass. Lepomis salmonea... Vulgar names White Trout.., Black Bass, Black Pearch, &c.
1890 W. D. Howells Boy's Town 30 There were men who were reputed to catch at will, as it were, silvercats and river bass.
1949 Jrnl. Parasitol. 35 188 River bass (Micropterus dolomieu) not parasitized with plerocercoid larvae..were found to attain a greater weight than smallmouth bass of the same age groups.
1985 J. Madson Up on River 136 The smallmouth [bass] is more a creature of moving waters than is its bigmouth cousin; one of the aliases of this fish is ‘river bass’.
† river boar n. [after classical Latin aper, former reading (where modern editions read caper goat) at Pliny Nat. Hist. 11. 267, taken to show a transferred use of aper wild boar (see aprine adj.)] Obsolete rare a river fish that is said to grunt (not identified); cf. boar-fish n., pigfish n. 1.
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1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xi. li. 353 What will they say then to the water-Goat [Fr. bogue] and the river-Bore, which in the river Achelous do evidently grunt.
† river bull n. Obsolete an amphibious mammal supposedly occurring in the River Nile (not identified).
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1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre ii. xiii. 61 Strange creatures bred therein [sc. in the Nile]; as river-bulls, horses and crocodiles.
1709 A. Hill Full Acct. Ottoman Empire xxxii. 233 There is another Beast, of an Amphibious Nature, commonly distinguish'd by the Name of River Bull, not much beyond a Calf in bigness, nor unlike him in Appearance..; they have Finns upon their Feet, which spread at bottom to considerable breadth.
river bullhead n. the miller's thumb, Cottus gobio.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Scorpaeniformes (scorpion-fish) > [noun] > family Cottidae (sculpins) > member of genus Cottus (bull-head) > cottus gobio (miller's thumb)
cabochec1425
miller's thumb1440
bullheadc1450
cull1480
binhead1581
cabot1611
river bullhead1763
1763 R. Brookes New Syst. Nat. Hist. III. xiii. 122 The fins on the back, and the tail, are variegated with transverse brown lines, as in the river Bull-head.
1841 H. Miller Old Red Sandstone iii. 52 The river bull-head, when attacked by an enemy,..erects its two spines.
1896 J. W. Kirkaldy & E. C. Pollard tr. J. E. V. Boas Text Bk. Zool. 390 In the rivers of Great Britain is found the small River Bull-head.
1990 D. Morris Animalwatching (1991) (BNC) 19 Animals that fall into this general category include many territorial fish, such as the river bullhead.
river carp n. (a) the common carp, Cyprinus carpio, as occurring in rivers; cf. pond carp n. at pond n. Compounds 2; (b) U.S. any of several suckers of the genus Carpiodes; esp. the river carpsucker, Carpiodes carpio.
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > superorder Ostariophysi or order Cypriniformes > [noun] > suborder Cyprinoidei > family Cyprinidae (minnows and carps) > cyprinus carpio (carp)
carpc1440
river carp1653
seizling1688
koi1727
looking-glass carp1811
king carp1874
mirror carp1879
scale carp1884
mirror1986
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler xii. 236 [Bait] for a River Carp . View more context for this quotation
1726 Gentleman Angler 63 Carp spawn generally in May, or the beginning of April, especially the River-Carp.
1820 New Monthly Mag. Aug. 134/1 The lively deep gold scales distinguish the river carp from those kept in ponds.
1888 S. A. Forbes in Bull. Illinois State Lab. Nat. Hist. 2 453 Ictiobus cyprinus, LeS. River Carp; Carp Sucker... I include..all the so-called species of river carp sometimes separated under the genus Carpiodes.
1922 Sci. Monthly Feb. 193 There was also a good number of sheepshead, river carp (which the Lake Pepin fishermen call ‘white carp’), red horses, and a mud cat.
2002 J. Bailey Where to Coarse Fish in Brit. & Ireland 32 The late, great Peter Stone..always felt a thirty-pound river carp was just round the corner for him.
river cat n. U.S. regional any of various North American catfish.
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1770 G. Washington Diary 25 Oct. (1976) II. 299 At this place we..found a Cat fish of the size of our largest River Cats.
1804 W. Clark Jrnl. 18 May in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1986) II. 237 Mr. Ducett made me a present of rivr [sic] Catts.
1913 W. Williams Hist. Northeast Missouri I. 560 Fish of many varieties... the river cat, growing to large size, sometimes weighing as much as 175 pounds; the buffalo, pike..[etc.].
2002 K. Adler & J. M. Fertig Fish & Shellfish 36 Chefs and catfish? It your first thought is ‘not a good combo’, then you need to forget memories of muddy-tasting, bottom-dwelling river cat.
river chub n. any of several North American chubs of the genus Nocomis; now spec. N. micropogon of the eastern United States.
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > superorder Ostariophysi or order Cypriniformes > [noun] > suborder Cyprinoidei > family Cyprinidae (minnows and carps) > member of genus Nocomis
river chub1736
hornyhead chub1882
1736 S. Humphreys tr. N. A. Pluche Spectacle de la Nature III. xxii. 180 Nor would he have forgot the Mullet, which is very like the River-Chub.
1807 New Encycl. IV. 26/1 Blike, in ichthyology, a name given by some to an anadromous fish, resembling our river chub.
1884 D. S. Jordan Fisheries U.S. in Senate Misc. VI. i. 617 The ‘Horny-head’, ‘River Chub’, or ‘Jerker’ is one of the most widely diffused of fresh-water fishes.
1999 Conservation Biol. 13 1458/2 Species that..increased in numbers included..a group of three water column-dwelling minnows (warpaint shiner, river chub, creek chub).
river crab n. (a) a freshwater crab; †(b) a crayfish (obsolete rare).
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the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [noun] > lobster > crayfish
scrayfish1309
river crab?c1425
crayfisha1475
crevis fish1688
rock lobster1810
koura1847
Murray crayfish1880
yabby1886
cray1906
marron1943
mudbug1955
?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 301 Ryuer crabbes [?a1425 N.Y. Acad. Med. flode crabbez] helpen moche.
1583 P. Barrough Methode of Phisicke iii. xl. 132 Moreouer riuer crabs, soupings of Ptysan and amylum sodden with milke, be maruelous good.
1678 J. P. tr. J. Johnstone Descr. Nature Four-footed Beasts iv. i. 101/1 For cure, men use River-crabs, stamped and drunk.
1754 tr. J. Astruc Treat. Venereal Dis. (new ed.) II. iv. xi. 123 Broth's made of Chicken, or River-Crab, and the Leaves of Agrimony, Burnet.., &c.
1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. iii. iii. 96 The River Crab or Cray-fish (Astacus Fluviatilis) is a decapod crustacean.
1997 Crustaceana 70 737 (title) Biochemical and morphological evidence for a new species of river crab.
† river-dog n. Obsolete (a) an otter; (b) U.S. the hellbender, Cryptobranchus alleganiensis (rare); cf. water dog n. 3.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Lutra (otter)
ottereOE
badger1591
river-dog1610
water weasel1611
dog-fisher1655
water dog1655
river otter1780
land otter1844
water wolf1907
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 206 Otterey, that is, The River of Otters, or River-Dogs, which we call Otters.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 114 Ætius..prescribeth the stones of the Otter, or River-dog, as succedaneous unto Castoreum. View more context for this quotation
1702 A. Pitfield tr. C. Perrault Nat. Hist. Animals 94 The teeth made all the resemblance we found the Otter to have with the Dog.., and Ælian calls it the River-Dog.
1876 G. B. Goode Classif. Coll. Illustr. Animal Resources U.S. 13 Proteida. (River-dogs, hell-benders.)
river dolphin n. †(a) the dorado, Coryphaena hippurus; = dolphin n. 2 (obsolete rare); (b) any of several dolphins occurring in rivers in South Asia, China, and South America, which typically have pale skin, a long slender beak, and poor eyesight, and use echolocation to find prey.Formerly placed in the family Platanistidae, the five river dolphins are now assigned to four separate families, and most of them are critically endangered.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Percoidei > [noun] > member of family Coryphaenidae (dolphin)
gilthead1538
dorado1604
dolphin1626
golden-poll1655
goldfish1670
pudding-wife1735
river porpoise1736
river dolphin1781
pudding fish?a1808
mahimahi1905
lampuki1925
1781 R. Pulteney Gen. View Writings Linnæus 95 Coryphæna,..River Dolphin.
1880 Pop. Sci. Monthly June 230 A river-dolphin of South America has the greatest number [of teeth], two hundred and twenty-two.
1939 Geogr. Jrnl. 93 482 There were schools of river dolphins, but few other signs of life.
1988 Conservation Biol. 2 308 The Chinese river dolphin, the most highly endangered..small whale.., marked one more year of survival.
2002 Jrnl. Heredity 93 312/2 The Amazon river dolphin, genus Inia, is endemic to the major river basins of northern South America.
river dragon n. (a) the Nile crocodile (chiefly with allusion to a Pharaoh of ancient Egypt); (b) a mythical creature said to inhabit rivers in China.
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1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 191 Thus with ten wounds This River-dragon..submits To let his sojourners depart. View more context for this quotation
1788 W. Huntington Servant of Lord 18 He was raised up..and sent, by God himself, to deliver the Children of Israel from Pharaoh, that river dragon.
1880 Mrs. J. H. Gray Fourteen Months in Canton xix. 215 The river dragon is much feared, and therefore much worshipped, by the population living in boats.
1921 F. H. Martens tr. R. Wilhelm Chinese Fairy Bk. lxii. 216 When the Duke was crossing the Yellow River, wind and waters rose. A river-dragon snapped up one of the steeds of the chariot and tore it away.
1999 Express 10 June 29/1 Hard by the lilied Nile I saw a duskish river dragon stretched along.
2006 C. Scrace & G. Legg Dragons 40 Bridges bear dragon shapes in honour of the river dragons.
river duck n. a duck which frequents rivers; spec. a dabbling duck; cf. sea-duck n. 1.
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1712 J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northants. vii. 431 It appears they feed as well in Fresh Water, as in Salt; so may more fitly be entituled Ducks of an Amphibious Kind, or of a middle Nature betwixt the Sea-Ducks, and the Plash or River-Ducks.
1837 W. Swainson On Nat. Hist. & Classif. Birds II. 189 The Anatinæ, or river ducks, show the typical perfection of the whole family [etc.].
1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds 285 River ducks..are not by any means confined to fresh waters, and some species constantly associate with the sea-ducks.
1977 S. Cramp Handbk. Birds Europe, Middle East & N. Afr. I. 471 Anatini dabbling ducks. (Known also as surface-feeding, puddle, or river ducks.)
river eel n. a freshwater eel.
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1658 tr. G. della Porta Nat. Magick ix. v. 237 They boyl a River-Eel that is fat.., till it dissolve into Oyl, and they anoynt the part with it.
1769 J. Wallis Nat. Hist. Northumberland I. 391 The River-Eel is frequently taken from two to three feet long in our alpine stony rivers.
1870 Jrnl. Royal Hist. & Archæol. Assoc. Ireland 1 147/2 An interesting question here suggests itself, as to whether the Lamprey migrates to the sea, as the lake and river eels do.
1997 G. S. Helfman et al. Diversity of Fishes xvii. 312/1 Australia is largely a desert continent. Its freshwater fish fauna is dominated by marine derivatives, such as river eels, plotosid catfishes, [etc.].
river fowl n. a bird found in the vicinity of rivers and other inland waters, esp. a relatively large swimming bird treated as game (cf. waterfowl n.).
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a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. lxxix. 1341 Eyren of ryuer foules beþ dyuers and oþur þan eyren of foules þat beþ yfedde in drye londe.
1578 T. Nicholas tr. F. Lopez de Gómara Pleasant Hist. Conquest W. India 183 There are ten pondes or moe, some of salte water for sea foule, & other some of fresh water for riuer foule and lake foule.
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 1st Bk. Wks. xxxvii. 169 River-fowle, teales and awteales.
1773 M. Browne Angling Sports viii. 116 Trammels, a kind of Water-Nets, are placed about a foot under water for all kind of River-Fowl.
1822 S. Coleridge tr. M. Dobrizhoffer Acct. Abipones I. 332 Paraguay is not destitute of river-fowl, very like European herons and storks.
1920 Times 30 July 10/2 The canal..dotted here and there with swans..,and river fowl in great variety.
2002 Ottawa Citizen 11 July b2 River fowl have no such problems. Families of loons join ducks in smugly offering swimming instruction to their newborn.
river garfish n. any of various freshwater halfbeaks of the family Hemiramphidae occurring in Australian rivers; esp. the common and widespread Hyporhamphus regularis.
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1871 Industr. Progress New S. Wales iii. 789 In these lakes black-bream, tarwine, flat-head, whiting, river gar-fish, and several varieties of mullet, are the chief net fish.
1951 T. C. Roughley Fish & Fisheries Austral. 22 As a food-fish the sea garfish has the same characteristics as the river garfish.
1997 G. S. Helfman et al. Diversity of Fishes iii. 35/1 Of two species of common Australian halfbeaks or garfishes (Hemiramphidae), scales remain in the river garfish, Hyporhamphus regularis, but are easily lost in the sea garfish, H. australis.
† river-gilt n. Obsolete rare a river fish found in Central America (not identified).
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1704 Nat. Hist. iii, in L. Wafer New Voy. & Descr. Isthmus Amer. (ed. 2) 199 The River-Gilt [of Central America]. Hath small Scales with a blush of Gold towards the Back.
† river hawk n. Falconry Obsolete a hawk that preys on waterfowl.
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1603 Ld. R. Cecil Let. in E. Lodge Illustr. Brit. Hist. (1791) III. 187 So I end..wth a release now to you for a field hawke, if you can help me to a river hawke yt will fly in a high place.
1648 Bp. J. Wilkins Math. Magick ii. viii. 219 A river hawk will strike a fowl with a far greater force, then the meer descent or heavinesse of his body could possibly perform.
1686 R. Blome Gentlemans Recreation ii. 38/1 But if you do it often, she will be very unwilling to part with the Pelt, and by consequence provoke her to carry, which fault is more accustomary, and worse in a Field than River Hawks.
river hen n. now rare a waterhen; esp. the moorhen, Gallinula chloropus.
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1890 R. G. Moulton Anc. Classical Drama viii. 285 Sand-martins and mud-larks presided over the department of the mortar, moor-fowl and river-hens bringing water to temper it.
1918 Outing June 202/3 In the river before us, was a big rice field fairly alive with river hens and duck.
river herring n. U.S. †(a) the mooneye, Hiodon tergisus (obsolete rare); (b) any of several shads of the genus Alosa; esp. the alewife, A. pseudoharengus.
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > subclass Actinopterygii > order Clupeiformes > [noun] > family Clupeidae and herrings > clupea serrata (ale-wife)
old wife1585
alewife1633
river herring1842
kyak1849
Taunton turkey1851
1842 J. E. De Kay Zool. N.-Y. iv. 266 [The river mooneye] is known under the popular names of Herring, River Herring, and Toothed Herring.
1884 Cent. Mag. Apr. 909/2 The different townships on Cape Cod protect the alewife or ‘river herring’.
1977 Hongkong Standard 12 Apr. 2/8 Officials..found illegal amounts of river herring in the trawler's hold 240 miles southeast of Boston.
2003 Nat. New Eng. Summer 43/2 The watershed might have supported 14 to 38 million spawning alewife together with its anadromous look-alike, the blue-back herring, Alosa aestivalis. Collectively, these two species are called river herring, or gaspereau.
river ibis n. now rare the bare-faced or whispering ibis, Phimosus infuscatus, of South America, which has greenish-black plumage, a bare reddish face, and a pale bill.
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1876 C. B. Brown Canoe & Camp Life Brit. Guiana ii. 21 The river ibis (Ibis infuscata) gets its name of curi-curi from its cry, which resembles that word repeated a few times.
1879 J. G. Wood Waterton's Wanderings 402 The River Ibis (Ibis infuscatus) is found..on the rivers of Guiana.
1923 Condor 25 199 Charles Chubb..has furnished us with practically all that we know about that interesting species, the Cayenne or River Ibis.
river jack n. the rhinoceros viper, Bitis nasicornis; also more fully river jack viper.
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1849 Catal. Snakes Brit. Mus. 25 The River Jack. Clotho nasicornis... River Jack, Colonists.
1877 Nature Oct. 531/2 A River Jack Viper (Vipera rhinoceros) from West Africa.
1955 G. Cansdale Reptiles W. Afr. iii. 49 The Rhinoceros Viper..is found frequently in the actual river valleys and swamps; because of this it is often called the River Jack.
2003 Cox News Service (Nexis) 5 Aug. The rhinoceros viper, also known as the river jack, is a 28-inch long, 3-pound male.
river lamprey n. a lamprey occurring in rivers; spec. (in Europe) the lampern, Lampetra fluviatilis, and (in western North America) L. ayresii.
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the world > animals > fish > superclass Agnatha > [noun] > suborder Petromyzontoidei or genus Petromyzon > member of (lamprey) > fresh-water
lampern1324
pride?a1325
river lamprey1600
sand-prey1836
sand-pride1836
sandlurker1859
1600 W. Vaughan Nat. & Artific. Direct. Health ii. v. 21 Riuer Lampreyes choked with nutmegs and cloues, and fryed with bread, oyle, and spices, is a princely dish and doth very, much good.
1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling i. xxxviii. 81 The River-Lamprey, contrary to the manner of other Fish, procreate their Species with their Bellies join'd together.
1880–4 F. Day Fishes Great Brit. & Ireland II. 362 It has been questioned whether this fish [sc. Petromyzon branchialis] is not the young form of the river lamprey.
1931 E. G. Boulenger Fishes iii. 47 The River Lamprey, or Lampern, differs from its larger relative in its dentition and smaller size of the sucking disc.
1995 Canad. Jrnl. Fisheries & Aquatic Sci. 52 644 The major prey of river lamprey [sc. Lampetra ayresi] is Pacific herring.
river limpet n. a minute pulmonate mollusc, Ancylus fluviatilis (family Planorbidae), which has a conical shell that resembles that of a limpet, occurring in freshwater in Eurasia.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > order Pulmonifera > Inoperculata > family Limnaeidae or Planorbidae > member of genus Ancylus
river limpet1778
1778 E. M. da Costa Hist. Nat. Testaceorum Brit. 1/1 The Limpet, River.
1864 Chambers's Encycl. VI. 138/1 In Ancylus (River Limpets) it is limpet-shaped.
1953 H. Mellanby Animal Life in Fresh Water (ed. 5) xi. 237 The River Limpet (Ancylastrum fluviatile) clings to stones in the beds of swift rivers and streams, and at the edges of lakes where there is some wind action.
1986 Zool. in Middle East 1 129 (title) Additional records of the river limpet, Ancylus fluviatilis, from the Middle East.
river mussel n. any of various large freshwater mussels constituting the family Unionidae, esp. of the genera Unio and Pseudanadonta; (also) = river pearl mussel n.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Asiphonida > family Unionidae > genus Unio > member of
river mussel1637
painter's mussel1896
1637 R. Basset Curiosities 210 This appeares in River-mussels.
1769 J. Wallis Nat. Hist. Northumberland I. 402 The fresh-water shell-fishes,..or River-Muscles, are plentiful in most of our rivers.
1776 E. M. da Costa Elements Conchol. 295 The Pearl River Muscle.
1851 G. F. Richardson Introd. Geol. (1855) 435 A fresh~water deposit containing the shells of Unio, a river mussel.
1995 Daily Tel. 13 Dec. 13/2 Other rescue plans include..protecting the depressed river mussel, the largest in Europe.
† river nightingale n. Obsolete the great reed warbler, Acrocephalus arundinaceus.
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1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Rousserole, the Riuer Nightingale; a kind of Kings-fisher.
1792 J. Leslie tr. Comte de Buffon Nat. Hist. Birds III. 257 The Reed Thrush. La Rouserolle... This bird has been called the River Nightingale, because the male chants night and day.
1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VII. 29 The River Nightingale (Turdus Arundinaceus) was placed among the thrushes by former naturalists.
river otter n. chiefly North American an otter of the genus Lutra, found typically in freshwater (distinguished from the sea otter, Enhydra lutris).
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Lutra (otter)
ottereOE
badger1591
river-dog1610
water weasel1611
dog-fisher1655
water dog1655
river otter1780
land otter1844
water wolf1907
1780 W. Coxe Acct. Russ. Discov. 64 During that winter the two crews killed partly upon Siguyam, about 800 sea otters of different sizes.., some river otters.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 63/2 The Otters..consist of two forms nearly allied: the first, including the River Otters..; the second, the Sea Otter.
1857 J. G. Swan Northwest Coast 92 The river-otter..may be taken easily either by traps, or by hunting with dogs, or shooting.
1994 Canad. Geographic Jan. 22/2 White bears..share the island with black wolves, river otters, eagles and sitka deer, to name only a few species.
river pearl n. a pearl from a freshwater pearl mussel, esp. Margaritifera margaritifera.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > pearl > [noun] > varieties of
unioOE
pearl of orientc1400
seed pearl1551
powdering pearls1606
pear pearl1647
Welsh pearl1681
peara1685
union1694
akoya1727
river pearl1776
orient1833
bouton pearl1851
blister pearl1885
Bombay pearl1885
teardrop pearl1904
cultured pearl1911
culture pearl1921
1776 T. Pennant Tour Scotl. 1772: Pt. 2 14 There are ten obelises, about an inch and a quarter high, prettily studded, and the top of each ornamented with a river pearl.
1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 447/2 River-pearls are produced by the fresh-water mussels inhabiting the mountain-streams of temperate climates in the northern hemisphere.
1948 R. M. Pearl Pop. Gemol. vi. 238 River pearls are taken from streams in several parts of Europe and America and in China and Japan.
1991 B. Howell Dandelion Days (BNC) 214 Nero wants a big river pearl to go in his belly-button, he says he can't see the other one for fluff.
river pearl mussel n. a freshwater pearl mussel; esp. Margaritifera margaritifera (family Margaritiferidae).
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1778 E. M. Da Costa Historia Naturalis Testaceorum Britanniæ 225/1 (heading) M[ya] Margaritifera. River Pearl Muscle.
1896 J. W. Kirkaldy & E. C. Pollard tr. J. E. V. Boas Text Bk. Zool. 315 The River Mussel (Unio) and the River Pearl Mussel (Margaritana margaritifera), which are common in England, are allied forms.
1998 Ethnohistory 45 27 The premier pearl-producing mussel is the eastern river pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera).
river perch n. any of various freshwater perches and perch-like fishes; esp. the European perch, Perca fluviatilis.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Percidae (perches) > [noun] > perca fluviatilis (common perch)
bassc1000
perch1381
basec1425
river perch1574
bast1676
Welshman1709
barse1753
grunt1851
redfin1946
1574 T. Newton tr. G. Gratarolo Direct. Health Magistrates & Studentes sig. L.ij But Riuer pearches (whiche are like in maner to the other) are of pleasaunt taste.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler p. xii The River-Perch is so wholesome, that physicians allow him to be eaten by wounded men.
1737 tr. C. de Bruyn Trav. into Muscovy II. lxi. 78/1 They are likewise dressed for eating like river perches.
1836 J. Richardson Fauna Boreali-Americana III. 1 This fish [sc. American perch] has a close resemblance to the river Perch of Europe.
1884 D. S. Jordan Fisheries U.S. in Senate Misc. VI. i. 279 ‘River Perch’ (Hysterocarpus Traski, Gibbons).
1991 Country Living (BNC) June 155 I could catch two or three river perch between the bell for school assembly and the first lesson.
river porpoise n. †(a) = river dolphin n. (b) (obsolete); (b) any of several porpoises (family Phocoenidae) occurring in rivers.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Percoidei > [noun] > member of family Coryphaenidae (dolphin)
gilthead1538
dorado1604
dolphin1626
golden-poll1655
goldfish1670
pudding-wife1735
river porpoise1736
river dolphin1781
pudding fish?a1808
mahimahi1905
lampuki1925
1736 R. Brookes tr. J.-B. Du Halde et al. Gen. Hist. China II. 359 The Chinese Workmen give a Gloss to the Tcheou tse or Lutestring with the Fat of the River-Porpus.
1849 E. B. Eastwick Dry Leaves 97 I saw several river-porpoises, of the kind the natives call the Bolan.
1922 Geogr. Rev. 12 55 River porpoises frolicked around our canoes [sc. in Bolivia].
2004 M. Simmonds Whales & Dolphins of World i. 21/2 The endangered Yangtze River Porpoise population (actually a subspecies) of the Finless Porpoise is also in trouble.
river salmon n. (a) the Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, as occurring in rivers; (b) a fish of the salmon family that is confined to rivers, as the brown trout, S. trutta fario.
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1634 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World (new ed.) I. ix. xviii. 247 In the country of Aquitaine or Guienne in France, the riuer Salmon passeth all other sea Salmons whatsoeuer.
1729 Nurse's Guide ii. iii. 105 The Trout likewise, which is a kind of River-Salmon, is excellent.
1888 G. B. Goode Amer. Fishes 440 (table) River-salmon, not anadromous. Subgenus Fario. (The Salmon Trouts.)
2008 Tampa Bay Mag. (Florida) May–June 234/2 You can choose from River Salmon, Tuna, Snapper, Gulf Grouper, [etc.].
river seal n. (a) a seal which is sometimes found in rivers; spec. (North American) the common seal, Phoca vitulina; (b) (in South America) a river otter.
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1850 D. Millar Tay v. 377 At this distance the river seals begin to get rife, and give great annoyance to salmon fishers.
1880 J. A. Allen Hist. N. Amer. Pinnipeds 562 Phoca (Phoca) vitulina, Linné... Seal; Common Seal; Harbor Seal; River Seal; Bay Seal;..English authors and English local names.
1883 E. F. Knight Cruise of ‘Falcon’ II. viii. 111 On the way we shot a lobo (river seal), and picked up a derelict Indian canoe.
1922 F. W. Up de Graff Head Hunters of Amazon xiii. 151 They have a clever way of handling their canoes when out spearing river-seals.
2004 F. Mowat No Man's River xxiii. 297 Using a page from my notebook I sketched a river seal and asked for its Inuit name.
river shell n. the shell of a freshwater mollusc, esp. as contrasted with a marine or terrestrial one.
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1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xxxii. v. 435 To come now to the riuer shell-snailes: most certaine it is, that their flesh..is singular good to resist the venome of scorpions.]
1700 Wallace's Acct. Orkney (rev. ed.) ii. 39 Since there are no Rivers, there can no River-shells be expected here.
1776 E. M. da Costa Elements Conchol. 125 Numbers of sea Shells are as thin as river Shells, e.g. the Paper Nautili, Partridges, &c.
1816 T. Brown Elements Conchol. 130 River and land shells are mostly thinner than those of the sea.
1905 H. H. Howorth Ice or Water II. xiii. 231 We may take it, therefore, as an absolute feature of the loess that it contains virtually no river shells.
1997 X. Sun & J. Kistemaker Chinese Sky during Han vi. 116 (caption) The mosaicked images from river shells represented the Dragon and the Tiger.
river shrew n. now rare an otter shrew (genus Potamogale or Micropotamogale).
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1877 Cassell's Nat. Hist. I. 363 The West African River Shrew.
1896 Geogr. Jrnl. 7 286 The Ethiopian Region is characterized by the exclusive possession of ten families of mammals, namely—..Potamogalidæ (river shrew).
1940 Econ. Geogr. 16 386/2 It [sc. the Saharan sub-region] lacks entirely the mouse-deer, aardwolf, river shrew, golden mole, gorilla and chimpanzee.
river shrimp n. a freshwater shrimp; (U.S. regional) esp. Macrobrachium ohione or one of the family Palaemonidae.
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1763 R. Brookes New Syst. Nat. Hist. III. xxvii. 279 There are also river Shrimps in these parts of the same size as our common shrimps.
1841 Bude Light July 149 You could not detect anything living, neither river-shrimp, lively grig, nor Blackwall whitebait swimming or wriggling therein.
1882 Amer. Naturalist 16 136 At a single draw of the net we brought out not less than half a bushel of these river shrimps.
1943 L. Lenski Bayou Suzette xiii. 181 ‘Me, I ketch river shrimp,’ announced Suzette. ‘Maman, she make jambalaya for supper.’
1980 M. Thelwell Harder they Come ii. 62 He pushed it into the current, put the birds and the pail on it, and began to float downstream, searching the shallows for janga , the brown river shrimp, which could be found clinging to the mossy undersides of rocks.
2001 Pract. Fishkeeping Feb. 86/2 By persisting with ‘luxury’ foods such as live brineshrimp and live rivershrimp at every feeding, many fish will be increasingly reluctant to accept more convenient frozen and flake foods.
river snail n. a freshwater snail; (in later use) spec. one of the genus Viviparus (family Viviparidae).
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > superorder Branchifera > order Prosobranchiata > section Holostomata > family Paludinidae > member of
river snaila1398
apple shell1854
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 300v Þere ben foure manere of snayles: londe snayles & see strond snayles and snayles þat liggen in marreys and ryuer snayles.
1678 Philos. Trans. 1677 (Royal Soc.) 12 983 The Second Tract hath Three Parts. The first [is] of Snails in general... The second of Land Snails. The third of River Snails.
1776 E. M. da Costa Elements Conchol. 201 The Planorbis River Snail.
1859–62 J. Richardson et al. Museum Nat. Hist. II. 339/2 The species of River Snails, amounting to upwards of sixty.
1913 A. Teixeira de Mattos tr. J. H. Fabre Life of Fly vii. 168 The plump River-snails discreetly raise their lid, opening ever so little the shutters of their dwelling.
1996 Irish Naturalists' Jrnl. 25 278 (title) First Irish record of a living population of the river snail Viviparus viviparus..in the Shannon catchment.
† river soldier n. Obsolete rare an armoured catfish found in tropical parts of America.
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1704 Nat. Hist. iii, in L. Wafer New Voy. & Descr. Isthmus Amer. (ed. 2) 204 The River Souldier [of Central America]. Its mail'd somewhat like a Sturgeon the Meat good.
river sponge n. a freshwater sponge, spec. Ephydatia fluviatilis.
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1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. i. sig. Aiv/1 Of Calla, Cerceia, Cirsium and Crataegonum, Thelygonum, Crocodilium, Dogs stone, Chrysolachanum, Cucubalum, and Conferva or the river Spunge.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. (at cited word) 9. The branched river-spunge. 10. The hairy spunge. 11. The sail spunge [etc.]
1848 Mem. Literary & Philos. Soc. Manch. 2nd Ser. 8 23 Mr. Hogg, in his investigation on the action of light as affecting the colour of the river sponge, Spongilla fluviatilis, has advanced good arguments in favour of its being a plant.
1971 D. Nichols Oxf. Bk. Invertebr. 6/2 Ephydatia (River Sponge) is generally less green than the Pond Sponge, and seldom has such long projections.
river swallow n. (a) the sand martin, Riparia riparia (now rare); †(b) the bleak (fish), Alburnus alburnus (obsolete).
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > superorder Ostariophysi or order Cypriniformes > [noun] > suborder Cyprinoidei > family Cyprinidae (minnows and carps) > genus Leuciscus > leuciscus alburnus (bleak)
blayc1000
bleak1496
bleise1598
river swallow1601
sea-chameleon1661
tailor1676
ablet1775
alburn1912
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Hirundinidae > genus Riparia (sand-martin)
bank martnet1544
western1553
bank swallow1633
water swallow1633
bank martin1668
sand martin1668
land-martin1674
shore-bird1676
sand-swallow1797
river swallow1817
shore swallow1869
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. i. sig. aviv/2 The industry and subtilty of birds in building their neasts: of the ordinary Swallow, the river Swallow Argatilis.., and of Partridges.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler xvi. 205 There is also a Bleak, a fish that is ever in motion, and therefore called by some the River-Swallow . View more context for this quotation
1787 T. Best Conc. Treat. Angling 59 The bleak, on account of its eagerness to catch flies, is called by some, the river swallow.
1817 T. Forster Synoptical Catal. Brit. Birds 17 Hirundo riparia, Sand Martin, Sand Swallow, Bank Martin, Shorebird, or River Swallow.
1955 M. Sandoz Miss Morissa iii. 31 He watched the curve of her brows that were like the wings of a river swallow.
river tern n. any of various terns and similar birds that frequent inland rivers; esp.: †(a) the common tern, Sterna hirundo (obsolete); (b) (more fully Indian river tern) a pale grey and white tern, S. aurantia, of South Asia.
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1831 Wilson's Amer. Ornith. IV. 358 River tern, Sterna fluviatilis.
1864 T. C. Jerdon Birds India III. 838 River Terns. These birds have longer and more forked tails than the Marsh Terns... Seena aurantia... The Large River Tern.
1905 19th Cent. & After Dec. 988 These birds [sc. African skimmers] are river terns, and, like other terns, lay their eggs on the sand-banks.
1992 Colonial Waterbirds 15 144/2 There is only limited information available on the breeding biology of the Indian River Tern (Sterna aurantia).
river tortoise n. = river turtle n.
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the world > animals > reptiles > order Chelonia (turtles and tortoises) > [noun] > suborder Cryptodira > family Emydidae (freshwater turtles) > member of (terrapin)
river tortoise1601
river turtle1672
terrapin1672
skilly-pot1807
emys1843
pond tortoise1862
redbelly1877
slider1877
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. Index sig. Pppiiv/1 River Tortoises, and their vertues.
1746 Universal Hist. (Dublin rev. ed.) XIII. xvii. 306 Among the presents which they brought were huge vipers, serpents ten cubits long, a river tortoise three cubits long.., and several tygers.
1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 74/2 Potamians, or River Tortoises,..live constantly in the water, only coming out occasionally.
1910 Ohio Archaeol. & Hist. Q. 19 74 The river tortoise of these parts is a species different from that found in Pensilvanien.
2004 M. McAdam Bangladesh (ed. 5) 32 Reptiles include the sea tortoise, mud turtle, river tortoise, pythons, crocodiles and a variety of venomous snakes.
river trout n. a freshwater trout; esp. the brown trout, Salmo trutta fario; cf. sea-trout n.
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Salmonidae (salmon) > [noun] > genus Salmo > trout (unspecified and miscellaneous)
shoata1000
river trout1589
sheliscada1640
bouge1705
yellowfin1771
gillaroo1773
gizzard-trout1773
whiting1792
orange-fin1834
pug-trout1865
1589 L. Wright Display of Dutie sig. A3 Much like riuer trouts, alwayes swimming against the streame.., [they] dispise their dutie, reiect the rule of reason, and condemne the holsome doctrine of their elders.
1726 J. Laurence New Syst. Agric. i. iv. 170 Or if they do live, they have nothing of the delicious Taste of a River Trout.
1867 Harper's Mag. Dec. 48/1 He has already achieved unequalled success in breeding river-trout.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xvii. 440 If we make different species of river-trout and sea-trout we should have to do the same..for cabbage and cauliflower.
1991 S. Winchester Pacific (1992) 96 We could just make out the glimmer of lamplight from the tiny hotel on Lake Pehoé, where we should be dining on river trout..before the night was out.
river turtle n. any of numerous freshwater turtles, esp. of the families Emydidae, Trionychidae, and Chelidae, that live in rivers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Chelonia (turtles and tortoises) > [noun] > suborder Cryptodira > family Emydidae (freshwater turtles) > member of (terrapin)
river tortoise1601
river turtle1672
terrapin1672
skilly-pot1807
emys1843
pond tortoise1862
redbelly1877
slider1877
1672 J. Josselyn New-Englands Rarities 34 The River Turtle, which are venomous and stink.
1743 M. Catesby Acct. Carolina & Bahama Islands p. xxxv/1 in Nat. Hist. Carolina I. There are besides, peculiar to these upper Parts of the Savanna River a singular Species of River Turtle, which by boiling with the shell on, the whole becomes tender and eatable.
1802 A. F. M. Willich Domest. Encycl. IV. 232/2 The orbicularis, or common river-turtle, inhabits the milder climates of Europe.
1895 F. A. Swettenham Malay Sketches 212 The river-turtle is a great deal smaller than the sea-turtle.
1955 G. Cansdale Reptiles W. Afr. vi. 88 West Africa is known to have three species of sea turtle, at least three land tortoises and three terrapins (water tortoises), in addition to one river turtle.
1998 Jrnl. Compar. Physiol. B. 168 399 The Brisbane river turtle Emydura signata lays hard-shelled eggs.
† river-whale n. Obsolete a large freshwater catfish, perhaps the wels, Silurus glanis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Siluriformes (catfish) > [noun] > family Siluridae > genus Silurus (sheat-fish)
whale of the river1585
sheat-fish1589
river-whale1601
Silurus1601
sheath-fish1602
nimble-taila1661
shoat-fish1705
wels1880
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. <pt>ix.<pt> xv. 242 In some..riuers..there be fish found full as bigge: and namely, the riuer-Whale called Silurus, in Nilus [Fr. comme sont les Silures au Nil].
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis i. §v. ii. 103 The Head of the River-Whale.
† river whisker n. Obsolete rare a scaleless freshwater catfish of the family Pimelodidae, found in tropical America.
ΚΠ
1704 Nat. Hist. iii, in L. Wafer New Voy. & Descr. Isthmus Amer. (ed. 2) 206 The River Whisker. Has six long black Whiskers, but no Scales: it tastes well, and is frequently eaten.
C5.
a. Forming the names of trees, plants, etc., living in or near rivers.
river-cress n.
ΚΠ
a1576 W. Bullein Bk. Simples (new ed.) f. 40v, in Bulwarke of Defence (1579) Garden, and Ryuer Cresses, spring from March, to the ende of May.
1883 J. Macoun Catal. Canad. Plants i. 39 N[asturtium] lacustre, Gray. River-cress.
1921 Ecology 2 12 The experiments with the river-cress, Neobeckia aquatica, were begun in 1902, and plants were subjected to a wide range of conditions.
1953 A. Clarke Moment Next to Nothing I. i. 18 I've little to offer a guest... But it is yours, a round of bread, a pick Of river-cress and goat-cheese.
river-flag n.
ΚΠ
1611 E. Graile Little Timothe his Lesson i. §8. 17 Though cast in Riuer flags (poore child) yet was he freed thence, By Pharaohs daughter.
1831 H. C. Knight Lect. & Serm. II. xxxii. 40 Moses..resolved to join himself unto his own people, refusing any longer to be called the son of the princess-daughter, who had found him in the river flags.
1911 K. L. Bates Amer. the Beautiful 46 And our hate grew rank as the river-flag grows.
1939 J. Joyce Finnegans Wake iv. 207 After that she wove a garland for her hair. She pleated it. She plaited it. Of meadowgrass and riverflags, the bulrush and waterweed.
river palm n. rare
ΚΠ
1888 A. C. Ketchum Christmas Carillons 67 The stately line Of river-palms that eastward stretched away Toward Zoar.
1964 D. Varaday Gara-Yaka ix. 74 In the lush valleys among the rock forts..there stand magnificent River Palms.
river reed n.
ΚΠ
1640 J. Gower tr. Ovid Festivalls i. 7 When Mars-got Romulus in mean stalls liv'd, And little beds of river-reeds were weav'd.
1739 M. Browne Poems 38 For you two Beds of River-Reeds I'll strew, Dry from the Stream, yet green as when they grew.
1855 R. C. Singleton tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. I. 134 By the banks the river-reed is cut.
1946 H. C. Bosman in S. Afr. Opinion Jan. 11/3 A donga dense with all sorts of vegetation, blue lobelia and river reeds and rushes and kweekgras and yellow gazanias.
2005 C. Roy Trad. Festivals 389/2 The dance is convened when the river reeds are ready for cutting, which thus begins as a communal task.
river tree n.
ΚΠ
1704 Nat. Hist. vii, in L. Wafer New Voy. & Descr. Isthmus Amer. (ed. 2) 231 River Tree. Because it always grows on its Banks, and shoots its Roots on the Water; it bears a beautiful Umbel of small five leaved scarlet Flowers.
1880 J. C. Crawford Recoll. Trav. N.Z. & Austral. 12 I rode on with my overseer for a mile or two, when we saw the river-trees at no great distance.
1997 R.-M. Rejouis & V. Vinokurov tr. P. Chamoiseau Texaco (1998) 134 What do you know about the breadfruit tree, mammee-apple tree, or dried pearwood? What do you know..of the laurels' perfumes, of the prickly ash and the river tree?
river willow n.
ΚΠ
1829 C. Dewey in D. D. Field Hist. County Berks., Mass. i. 80 Salix... tristis. River willow. May. Banks of streams.
1870 Amer. Naturalist 4 595 The same day I found the velvety crimson catkin of the alder..side by side with the silvery one of the river willow.
1963 M. Shadbolt Summer Fires & Winter Country 233 In summer we swam down under the river-willows.
1992 R. Anaya Albuquerque vi.77 Through the brush of river willow, russian olive, and tamarisk, they could see the sheen of the river.
b.
river birch n. North American the red birch, Betula nigra, which grows on riverbanks and swamps in the eastern United States.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > birch and allies > [noun]
bircha700
birch-tree1530
weeping birch1606
Our Lady's tree1608
black birch1674
sugar-birch1751
white birch1766
red birch1774
yellow birch1774
paper birch1791
canoe birch1810
mountain mahogany1810
old field birch1810
mahogany birch1813
towai1845
river birch1846
kamahi1867
silver birch1884
wire birch1899
1846 G. B. Emerson Rep. Trees & Shrubs Mass. ii. 209 This tree is found growing abundantly on Spicket River and in neighboring swamps in Methuen. It is there called the river birch.
1884 C. S. Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. 161 Red Birch. River Birch... Used in the manufacture of furniture.
1937 W. M. Harlow & E. S. Harrar Textbk. Dendrol. 291 Its use as an ornamental seems to be increasing and even north of the natural range, river birch makes a desirable specimen tree for parks.
1998 D. Baldacci Simple Truth xxxi. 217 The narrow road took them through a mass of scrub pine, holly, oak and river birch with its bark unraveling like pencil shavings.
† river black-oak n. Obsolete an Australian tree, the black she-oak, Allocasuarina littoralis.
ΚΠ
1886 Colonial & Indian Exhib.: Official Catal. Exhibits New S. Wales (ed. 2) 190 (table) River Black Oak, Swamp Oak, Shingle Oak.
1898 Agric. Gaz. New S. Wales 7 697 Casuarina suberosa, Otto et Dietr. ‘Erect She-oak’, ‘River Black-oak’, ‘Dahl-wak’ of the aboriginies [sic]. A very valuable fodder tree.
river gum n. any of several eucalypts occurring on riverbanks; esp. the red gum, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, widespread across Australia; cf. red gum n.2 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > Australasian trees > [noun] > eucalyptus trees
yellow box1662
gum tree1676
white gum tree1733
whip-stick1782
peppermint1790
red gum tree1790
red mahogany1798
white gum1798
box1801
blue gum1802
eucalyptus1809
box tree1819
black-butted gum1820
bloodwood1827
white ash1830
blackbutt1833
morrel1837
mountain ash1837
mallee scrub1845
apple gum1846
flooded gum1847
Moreton Bay ash1847
mallee1848
swamp gum1852
box-gum1855
manna gum1855
white top1856
river gum1860
grey box1861
woolly butt1862
marlock1863
fever tree1867
red ironbark1867
river white gum1867
karri1870
yellow jacket1876
eucalypt1877
yapunyah1878
coolibah1879
scribbly gum1883
forest mahogany1884
yellow jack1884
rose gum1885
Jimmy Low1887
nankeen gum1889
slaty gum1889
sugar-gum1889
apple box1890
Murray red gum1895
creek-gum1898
eucalyptian1901
forest red gum1904
river red gum1920
napunyah1921
whitewash gum1923
ghost gum1928
snow gum1928
Sydney blue gum1932
salmon gum1934
lapunyah1940
1860 G. Bennett Gatherings of Naturalist in Austral. xix. 362 Among other valuable Gum-trees are the Blood-wood, or Mountain Ash..; the Blood-tree (E[ucalyptus] paniculata), Flooded Gum, River Gum, Bastard Box.
1881 W. E. Abbott Notes Journey on Darling 42 I saw nothing deserving the name of a tree. The coolabar..and the river gums, which grow only within about 100 yards of the water, are the only trees to be found.
1911 C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling ii. 17 A single line of railway runs straight out into the back country..and stops within sight of the river gums.
2000 B. Bryson In Sunburned Country (2001) 207 I pulled the car into the shade of a river gum and got out to have a look.
river lettuce n. rare an aquatic plant, Pistia stratiotes (family Araceae), common in tropical rivers and streams; the water lettuce.
ΚΠ
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 378 Great floating masses of river lettuce (Pistia stratiotes).
1920 A. Arber Water Plants xvii. 213 In Africa, the River Lettuce, Pistia Stratiotes, plays a similar part to the Water Hyacinth of America in hindering navigation.
river mangrove n. a large shrub or small tree, Aegiceras corniculatum (family Myrsinaceae), which grows on riverbanks and in coastal areas of Australia and parts of Asia.
ΚΠ
1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Native Plants Austral. 370 Ægiceras majus,..‘River Mangrove’. A shrub or small tree. Wood of light colour, close-grained, and easily worked.
1919 Amer. Botanist 25 44 The river mangrove is Aegiceras majus of Indo-Malaya and Australia.
2008 Marine Pollution Bull. 57 611/1 One specimen each of the less common species, the river mangrove (Aegiceras corniculatum) and the myrtle mangrove (Osbornia octodonta) were also found.
river oak n. any of several Australian trees of the genus Casuarina, or (more widely) the family Casuarinaceae, found on riverbanks or in moist ground, esp. C. cunninghamiana, a large tree with needle-like foliage; (also) the wood of this tree; cf. she-oak n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > Australasian trees > [noun] > Australian or New Zealand oak
oak1789
she-oak1792
river oak1817
shingle-oak1818
New Zealand oak1835
swamp-oak1837
he-oak1844
river she-oak1872
forest-oak1882
bull oak1884
desert oak1896
1817 A. Cunningham in I. Marriott Early Explorers Austral. 9 Apr. (1925) 176 Casuarina torulosa (River Oak)..with another species of Eucalyptus called by the colonists ‘Stringy Bark’.
1918 H.H. Corbin et al. Federal Capital Territory 7 In the bed of the Cotter and Murrumbidgee, and also other rivers, one finds a very excellent growth of the ‘river oak’, Cas. cunninghamii.
1992 Cent. Home Feb.–Mar. 65/2 All tradition construction, River oak, ash, cherry and hickory.
† river pear n. Obsolete rare = anchovy pear n.
ΚΠ
1696 L. Plukenet Opera Bot. II. 32 Anona Americana,..Anchovie Pear, & aliquando River Pear, Nostratibus nuncupatur.
river poisonous tree n. now rare the milky mangrove, Excoecaria agallocha, a shrub or small tree with poisonous sap which grows in tidal areas of Australia and parts of Asia; = river poison-tree at poison tree n. 1(c).
ΚΠ
1873 R. Daintree Queensland 86 Excœcaria Agallocha (River Poisonous Tree). The wood is light, soft and white. The acrid milky juice, it is believed, will blind the eye into which it falls.
1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Native Plants Austral. 187 Excæcaria Agallocha,..‘River Poisonous Tree’... It produces..an acrid, milky juice.
1900 Queensland Agric. Jrnl. 7 456 It [sc. the milky mangrove] is also called the River Poisonous-tree or River Poison-tree, from its habit of growing on the banks of tidal rivers.
river poplar n. chiefly North American any of several poplars found near rivers; esp. the cottonwood Populus deltoides of North America.
ΚΠ
1846 G. B. Emerson Rep. Trees & Shrubs Mass. ii. 246 The river poplar is a noble tree, rising often to the height of eighty feet or more, with a fine long open head.
1901 R. O. Morris Birds of Springfield & Vicinity 4 Along the streams may be seen the willows, elms, red and white maples, river poplars, alders, pin oaks, and button-woods.
2007 B. James Listening at Gate 338 Down the bank to a little fast creek overhung with evergreens and a tree like a river poplar with shivering leaves.
river she-oak n. any of several Australian trees of the genus Casuarina, esp. C. cunninghamiana (see river oak n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > Australasian trees > [noun] > Australian or New Zealand oak
oak1789
she-oak1792
river oak1817
shingle-oak1818
New Zealand oak1835
swamp-oak1837
he-oak1844
river she-oak1872
forest-oak1882
bull oak1884
desert oak1896
1872 Victorian Exhib. Official Catal. Exhibits 136 River sheoak.
1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Native Plants Austral. 398 Casuarina glauca,..‘River She-oak’.
2004 Jrnl. N. Amer. Bentholog. Soc. 23 128/1 Although in a gorge, the river at this site is open, with little shading from riparian vegetation which is dominated by river she-oak (Casuarina cunninghamia).
river tea tree n. now rare either of two closely related Australian shrubs of the family Myrtaceae, the broad-leaved tea tree, Callistemon salignus, and (esp. in later use) Melaleuca bracteata.
ΚΠ
1878 Jrnl. & Proc. Royal Soc. New S. Wales 1877 11 33 I have never seen this tree in warmer regions, nor have I seen it growing in the vicinity of river tea-tree.
1900 Queensland Agric. Jrnl. 6 127 It [sc. Callistemon salignus] is also known as the Broad-leaved Tea-tree and River Tea-tree (..the latter from one of its favourite habitats).
1997 Jrnl. Biogeogr. 24 830 (table) Black tea-tree, river tea-tree. Melaleuca bracteata.
river white gum n. any of several eucalypts having pale bark and growing near watercourses; esp. Eucalytpus elata (formerly E. andreana) and E. radiata, both of south-western Australia; cf. river red gum at red gum n.2 3, white gum n.2 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > Australasian trees > [noun] > eucalyptus trees
yellow box1662
gum tree1676
white gum tree1733
whip-stick1782
peppermint1790
red gum tree1790
red mahogany1798
white gum1798
box1801
blue gum1802
eucalyptus1809
box tree1819
black-butted gum1820
bloodwood1827
white ash1830
blackbutt1833
morrel1837
mountain ash1837
mallee scrub1845
apple gum1846
flooded gum1847
Moreton Bay ash1847
mallee1848
swamp gum1852
box-gum1855
manna gum1855
white top1856
river gum1860
grey box1861
woolly butt1862
marlock1863
fever tree1867
red ironbark1867
river white gum1867
karri1870
yellow jacket1876
eucalypt1877
yapunyah1878
coolibah1879
scribbly gum1883
forest mahogany1884
yellow jack1884
rose gum1885
Jimmy Low1887
nankeen gum1889
slaty gum1889
sugar-gum1889
apple box1890
Murray red gum1895
creek-gum1898
eucalyptian1901
forest red gum1904
river red gum1920
napunyah1921
whitewash gum1923
ghost gum1928
snow gum1928
Sydney blue gum1932
salmon gum1934
lapunyah1940
1867 W. Woolls Contrib. Flora Austral. 217 E[ucalyptus] radiata, or the river white gum, is reckoned as a variety.
1884 A. Nilson Timber Trees New S. Wales 58 River White Gum.—Trunk smooth and nearly white.
1961 A. R. Penfold & J. L. Willis Eucalypts xii. 249 The tree [sc. E. andreana] is known as ‘White Top’, or ‘River White Gum’, and occurs fairly plentifully on the river banks and mountain ranges of eastern New South Wales.
2001 J. Robinson Voices of Queensland vi. 167 Jirnji, the river white gum Eucalyptus tectifica.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

rivern.2

Brit. /ˈrʌɪvə/, U.S. /ˈraɪvər/
Forms: late Middle English 1600s ryver, 1500s–1600s riuer, 1600s (1700s North American) river; English regional 1700s– river, 1800s ryver; Scottish pre-1700 riuer, pre-1700 river, pre-1700 rivere, pre-1700 ryuer, pre-1700 ryver.
Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rive v.1, -er suffix1.
Etymology: < rive v.1 (see discussion at that entry) + -er suffix1. With sense 2 compare earlier reaver n., with which this sense of the word was probably associated early on.Perhaps attested earlier as a surname: Albinus le River (1273).
1. A person who splits or tears something. Cf. rive v.1 In later use English regional (northern and East Anglian). Now rare.Frequently as second element in objective compounds, as block-river, lath-river: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > [noun] > one who breaks or cracks
breakerc1175
river?c1475
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > worker performing process or spec. task > [noun] > workers performing other tasks or processes
river?c1475
melter1511
sinker1526
folder up1552
wiper1552
scourer1574
heaver1587
stoverc1600
rasper1611
ripper1611
roller1616
smearer1632
waterleadera1650
scooper1668
smiter1670
puncher1681
staker1688
crusher1794
hardener1796
reamer1822
piledriver1826
catcher1832
waterproofer1837
middler1847
culler1850
hanger-on1858
pitcher1865
bumper1871
fine liner1871
bricksetter1883
waxer1890
bottle-oh1898
edger1909
bottle-o-er1915
caster1921
recycler1970
linesperson1973
?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 105 A Ryver, lacerator.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Fendeur, a cleauer, slitter; a riuer.
1775 B. Romans Conc. Nat. Hist. E. & W. Florida 182 A river or splitter..rives them [sc. trees] with the fro.
1795 R. Beatniffe Norfolk Tour (ed. 5) 40 This fishery gives bread..to about 2,000 Fishermen, and 4,000 Braiders, Beetsters, Towers, Rivers, Ferry-men, [etc.].
1865 W. White Eastern Eng. I. 146 These women are known as ‘ryvers’, because they rive or rend the gills with their thumbs to make way for the stick.
1884 Good Words June 395/1 Men have to serve seven years in the quarries..before they get full wages. They then become ‘rivers’ or ‘trimmers’.
†2. Chiefly Scottish. A robber; a pillager, a plunderer. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > robber > sacker, raider, or looter > [noun]
reavereOE
forayerc1330
cateran1371
ransackerc1390
depopulatorc1440
rover1481
forager1489
river?a1500
riderc1550
wight-rider1569
predour1577
sacker1589
harrier1596
boot-haler1600
marauder1698
poligar1773
skinner1780
looter1860
raider1861
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Cock & Fox l. 576 in Poems (1981) 26 Na, murther, theif, and reuar, stand on reir.
a1513 W. Dunbar Flyting in Poems (1998) I. 208 Muttoun dryver, girnall ryver, ȝadswyvar, fowll fell the!
a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 40/1 Robbers and riuers walking at libertie vncorrected.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 341 Ane multitude..Off theif and riuer..hereit all the landis of Kyntyre.
1624 in R. D. MacEwan Old Glasgow Weavers (1916) 69 To have sclanderit..Thomas Andersoun..in calling him ane ruger and river, and ane oppressour.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

riverv.

Brit. /ˈrɪvə/, U.S. /ˈrɪvər/
Forms: see river n.1
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: river n.1
Etymology: < river n.1
†1. transitive. To wash (a sheep, a fleece, or wool) in a river. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > rear sheep or wool [verb (transitive)] > dip
river1531
to dip sheep1840
crutch1886
1531–2 Act 23 Hen. VIII c. 17 §1 No maner person..[shall] winde..any fleesse of wolle beinge not sufficiently riuered or wasshed.
1531–2 Act 23 Hen. VIII c. 17 §1 To riuer or washe their sheepe afore they be shorne.
1697 View Penal Laws 257 Where the Inhabitants have not customably used to river or wash their Sheep.
1724 London Gaz. No. 6264/2 By not sufficiently Rivering, or Washing of Sheep, before they are shorn.
2. transitive. To provide with a river or rivers (only in passive); to flow over like a river.
ΚΠ
1674 R. Southwell in T. Birch Hist. Royal Soc. (1757) III. 208 How much one country is better than another for water carriage, supposing that all islands are rivered alike.
1858 Let. 6 Feb. in L. C. Scott Life & Lett. C. P. Cranch (1917) 231 For forty-eight hours the rain has rivered the streets.
1948 D. LePan in R. Brown & D. Bennett Anthol. Canad. Lit. in Eng. (1982) I. 656 The strained grin has been rivered by marks of rain.
2000 Contra Costa (Calif.) Times (Nexis) 16 Jan. e1 Alaska is stunningly mountained, rivered,..beavered and beared.
2006 B. Lumley Necroscope: The Touch (2007) 425 Sweat rivered his face.
3. intransitive. To follow a riverlike course; to flow like a river.
ΚΠ
1921 A. Clarke Sword of West 23 Far below me lay A deep green valley rivering through grey mist.
1939 P. Di Donato Christ in Concrete iv. 194 Sturdy spines bent forward, molars clamped, horny hands clutched jug handle, wine rivered.
1993 Fiddlehead Spring 116 The narratives rivering through the poems—shape the work into whole constructions.
2006 R. Fagles tr. Virgil Aeneid ix. 292 Sweat goes rippling over Turnus' entire body, rivering down, black with filth.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1c1300n.2?c1475v.1531
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