# river

/ˈɹɪvɝ/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/river
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. natural watercourse

noun · CEFR A1

a large, natural flow of water that crosses land and goes into the ocean or a lake.

For teachers: a large natural stream of water flowing in a channel to the sea, a lake, or another such stream.

- We took a small boat trip down the river to see the birds.
- The river winds through the valley for hundreds of miles before finally emptying into the delta at the coast.

### 2. a flow of liquid

noun · CEFR B2 · Literary

a large amount of liquid that flows quickly.

For teachers: a large and continuous flow of a liquid other than water.

- Rivers of sweat ran down the athlete's face after the long race.
- Following the heavy storm, rivers of mud cascaded down the hillside, blocking the main access road to the village.

### 3. poker card

noun · CEFR C1 · Informal · Technical

the fifth and final card dealt in a game of poker.

For teachers: the final community card dealt in games like Texas Hold'em, following the flop and the turn.

- He was losing the game until the river card gave him a winning hand.
- The professional player checked his bet, hoping the river would provide the spade he needed to complete his flush.

### 4. typography error

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a line of white space that accidentally goes down a page of printed text.

For teachers: a series of white spaces between words that happen to align vertically across several lines of text, creating a distracting visual gap.

- The designer fixed the text because there was a distracting river in the middle of the paragraph.
- Adjusting the tracking and justification settings is often necessary to eliminate rivers that disrupt the visual flow of a printed column.

### 5. to win on the final card

verb · CEFR C2 · Slang

to win a poker game by getting the right card at the very end.

For teachers: to outdraw an opponent by improving one's hand on the final community card.

- I had the best hand until he rivered me with an Ace.
- It is incredibly frustrating to play a perfect hand only to be rivered by a novice player chasing a low-probability draw.

## Examples

- The river flows through the center of the city.
- Many people enjoy walking along the river bank on sunny afternoons to watch the boats pass by.
- Heavy rainfall in the mountains caused the river to burst its banks, flooding the surrounding farmland and forcing local residents to evacuate their homes.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.