watercourse

Other forms: watercourses

Definitions of watercourse

1. noun

   a conduit through which water flows
   synonyms: waterway

   types:

   canal

   long and narrow strip of water made for boats or for irrigation

   flume

   watercourse that consists of an open artificial chute filled with water for power or for carrying logs

   headrace

   a waterway that feeds water to a mill or water wheel or turbine

   tailrace

   a watercourse that carries water away from a mill or water wheel or turbine

   cut

   a canal made by erosion or excavation

   industrial watercourse

   a canal that is operated by one or more industries

   race, raceway

   a canal for a current of water

   ship canal, shipway

   a canal large enough for seagoing vessels

   type of:

   way

   any artifact consisting of a road or path affording passage from one place to another
2. noun

   natural or artificial channel through which water flows
   type of:

   channel

   a deep and relatively narrow body of water (as in a river or a harbor or a strait linking two larger bodies) that allows the best passage for vessels
3. noun

   a natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth
   synonyms: stream

   types:

   branch

   a stream or river connected to a larger one

   brook, creek

   a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river)

   headstream

   a stream that forms the source of a river

   river

   a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)

   rill, rivulet, run, runnel, streamlet

   a small stream

   tidal river, tidal stream, tidewater river, tidewater stream

   a stream in which the effects of the tide extend far upstream

   billabong

   a branch of a river made by water flowing from the main stream only when the water level is high

   brooklet

   a small brook

   distributary

   a branch of a river that flows away from the main stream and does not rejoin it

   affluent, confluent, feeder, tributary

   a branch that flows into the main stream

   type of:

   body of water, water

   the part of the earth's surface covered with water (such as a river or lake or ocean)