waterway
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a river, canal, or channel that is deep and wide enough for boats to travel through.
a body of water, such as a river, channel, or canal, that is navigable by vessels.
Simple“The city built a new waterway to help large ships reach the port.”
In context“The government invested heavily in dredging the inland waterway to ensure that cargo barges could operate even during the dry season.”
- 02 C2 Proficiency
a pipe or channel used to carry water away, especially on a ship's deck.
a conduit or watercourse designed to drain water, particularly one located along the edge of a ship's deck.
Simple“The crew cleared the waterway on the deck to prevent rain from pooling.”
In context“Corrosion in the ship's peripheral waterway led to significant pooling on the main deck during the storm.”
“Many villages are located near waterways, while poor roads and a lack of bridges can make travel by land difficult.”
“In many states, sewage water is treated – though not always in ways that remove or kill the oocysts – and then released into waterways and can be used to irrigate crops .”
From Middle English waterwey, from Old English wæterweġ (“waterway”), from Proto-West Germanic *watarweg, equivalent to water + way. Compare Saterland Frisian Woaterwai (“waterway”), West Frisian wetterwei (“waterway”), Dutch waterweg (“waterway”), German Wasserweg (“waterway”), Danish vandvej (“waterway”), Swedish vattenväg (“waterway”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.