rivulet
noun
riv·u·let ˈri-vyə-lət 
-və-
: a small stream
Synonyms
- beck [British]
- bourn
- bourne
- brook
- brooklet
- burn [British]
- creek
- gill [British]
- rill
- run [chiefly Midland]
- runlet
- runnel
- streamlet
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
small rivulets trickled down the side of the cliff
Recent Examples on the Web The tiny fish had navigated what remained of the river at that time: a rivulet a person could often leap across, a few inches deep at times, Benkert said. 
Alex Demarban, Anchorage Daily News, 3 Oct. 2021 At the lower left, a rivulet of water trickles from a half-round wooden pipe into the cool darkness of a catchment pool. William E. Wallace, WSJ, 23 Apr. 2021 In a few short weeks, a torrential global river of money sprang from NFTs; in a few short days, a few celebrities diked it and drained off a rivulet of cash to a 15-employee nonprofit in Washington. Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2021 What starts as a worrying dot of pigment becomes a puddle, and then a rivulet, then begins to look, undeniably, like the basin of an overflowing toilet. Jenny Singer, Glamour, 20 Nov. 2020 In the sewers and rivulets along the streets in the city of masks the rats ride in masks like passengers in boats crossing the Lethe. Daniel Torday, Wired, 3 Apr. 2020 Column continues below video: Not 90 seconds into his tribute, tears ran down Jordan’s face like tiny rivulets. Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 24 Feb. 2020 This further contributes to erosion, which snowballs as moving water increases speed and carves out rivulets and then gullies. Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2019 The pulses sometimes caused the lava channel to overtop its banks, creating new rivulets that threatened nearby property. Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 5 Dec. 2019 See More
Alex Demarban, Anchorage Daily News, 3 Oct. 2021 At the lower left, a rivulet of water trickles from a half-round wooden pipe into the cool darkness of a catchment pool. William E. Wallace, WSJ, 23 Apr. 2021 In a few short weeks, a torrential global river of money sprang from NFTs; in a few short days, a few celebrities diked it and drained off a rivulet of cash to a 15-employee nonprofit in Washington. Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2021 What starts as a worrying dot of pigment becomes a puddle, and then a rivulet, then begins to look, undeniably, like the basin of an overflowing toilet. Jenny Singer, Glamour, 20 Nov. 2020 In the sewers and rivulets along the streets in the city of masks the rats ride in masks like passengers in boats crossing the Lethe. Daniel Torday, Wired, 3 Apr. 2020 Column continues below video: Not 90 seconds into his tribute, tears ran down Jordan’s face like tiny rivulets. Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 24 Feb. 2020 This further contributes to erosion, which snowballs as moving water increases speed and carves out rivulets and then gullies. Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2019 The pulses sometimes caused the lava channel to overtop its banks, creating new rivulets that threatened nearby property. Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 5 Dec. 2019 See More Word History
Etymology
Italian rivoletto, diminutive of rivolo, from Latin rivulus, diminutive of rivus stream — more at run
First Known Use
1587, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
rivulet
noun
riv·u·let ˈri-vyə-lət
: a small stream
rivulet
noun
as in brook
a natural body of running water smaller than a river small rivulets trickled down the side of the cliff Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- brook
- creek
- stream
- streamlet
- brooklet
- rill
- tributary
- runnel
- canal
- bourn
- bayou
- bourne
- beck
- burn
- gill
- runoff
- freshet
- arroyo
- run
- watercourse
- fresh
- wash
- coulee
- slough
- runlet
- millstream
- billabong
- millrace
- waterway
- slew
- channel
- distributary
- race
- cutoff
- branch
- slue
- confluent
- kill
- influent
- affluent
- cut
- gut
