river

Noun (1)

river (plural rivers)

1. A large and often winding stream which drains a land mass, carrying water down from higher areas to a lower point, oftentimes ending in another body of water, such as an ocean or in an inland sea.
   • Occasionally rivers overflow their banks and cause floods.
   • By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spell-bound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart...1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC
2. Any large flow of a liquid in a single body.
   • a river of blood
3. The last card dealt in a hand.
   • He called instantly but was too ashamed to show until the river.2017, Nathan Schwiethale, Ace High: Mastering Low Stakes Poker Cash Games, page 70
4. A visually undesirable effect of white space running down a page, caused by spaces between words on consecutive lines happening to coincide.

Verb

river (third-person singular simple present rivers, present participle rivering, simple past and past participle rivered)

1. To improve one’s hand to beat another player on the final card in a poker game.
   • Johnny rivered me by drawing that ace of spades.

Noun (2)

UK/ˈɹaɪvə/US/ˈɹaɪvɚ/

river (plural rivers)

1. One who rives or splits.

Proper noun capitalized: River

River (countable and uncountable, plural Rivers)

1. A unisex given name.
   • Wash: Little River gets more colorful by the moment. What'll she do next?
     Zoe: Either blow us all up or rub soup in our hair. It's a toss-up.
     Wash: I hope she does the soup thing, it's always a hoot and we don't all die from it.2002 December 13, Joss Whedon, Firefly, season 1, episode 14, Objects in Space
   • The Doctor: Oh, this is my friend River. Nice hair, clever, and has her own gun. And unlike me, she really doesn't mind shooting people. I shouldn't like that. Kinda do, a bit.2011 April 30, Steven Moffat, Doctor Who, series 6, episode 2, Day of the Moon
2. (rare) A surname.
3. A suburban village and civil parish in Dover district, Kent, England (OS grid ref TR2943).
4. A hamlet in Tillington parish, Chichester district, West Sussex, England (OS grid ref SU9322).
5. A township in Red Lake County, Minnesota, United States.