# river

Pronunciation: US say "RIV-ur" /ˈɹɪvɚ/; UK say "RIV-uh" /ˈɹɪvə/

## Noun

1. A large, often winding stream that drains a landmass, carrying water from higher ground down to a lower point, usually into a sea, lake, or other body of water.
   - Simple: A large natural stream of water flowing across land, usually down to the sea or a lake.
   - _The river winds through the valley before emptying into the sea._
   - _Several rivers feed into the great lake at the region's center._
2. A large quantity of any liquid flowing along as one mass.
   - Simple: A large amount of any liquid moving together as one stream.
   - _A river of molten metal streamed from the broken furnace._
   - _Rivers of rainwater ran down the steep street._
3. The last card dealt during a hand of poker.
   - Simple: The last card dealt out in a hand of poker.
   - _She hit her straight on the river and took the pot._
   - _A useless river left both players holding the same pair._
5. An unsightly streak of white space running down a page, caused by spaces between words on consecutive lines lining up.
   - Simple: A line of white space that seems to run down a page when word gaps line up across rows.
   - _Justified text often shows a river where word gaps stack up over several lines._
   - _She adjusted the word spacing until the river disappeared from the page._

## Verb

4. To improve your hand enough to beat another player on the final card of a poker hand.
   - Simple: To win against another player by getting a better hand on the last card.
   - _He rivered his opponent with a flush nobody saw coming._
   - _Beginners often river stronger players purely by chance._

## Noun

6. A person who rives or splits something, such as one who splits wood, slate, or stone. *(rare)* (pronounced: US say "RY-vur" /ˈɹaɪvɚ/; UK say "RY-vuh" /ˈɹaɪvə/)
   - Simple: A person who splits or cuts something apart, such as wood or stone.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–5** — It comes from Middle English ryver, from Anglo-Norman rivere, from Medieval Latin rīpāria ("riverbank") and Latin rīpa ("river bank"), tracing back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to scratch, tear, cut". It is not related to Latin rīvus ("stream") and it replaced the native Old English word ēa.
**Meaning 6** — It was formed from the verb rive plus the suffix -er.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/river (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).