distributary
English edit
Etymology edit
distribute + -ary
Adjective edit
distributary (comparative more distributary, superlative most distributary)
- That distributes.
- 1816, Tapping Reeve, The law of baron and femme, of parent and child, of guardian and ward, of master and servant, and of the powers of courts of chancery[1]:
- A posthumous child is as much entitled to a distributary share, under the statute of distributions, as one that is born at the time of the death of its father […]
- 1991, Leslie E. Small, Farmer-Financed Irrigation: The Economics of Reform[2]:
- […] improving the channels in a distributary unit.
- 2014, Allard W. Martinius, editor, From Depositional Systems to Sedimentary Successions on the Norwegian Continental Margin[3], page 379:
- These deposits are commonly punctuated by metre-scale fining-upward, medium-grained, cross-bedded sandstones, interpreted as terminal distributary channels.
Noun edit
distributary (plural distributaries)
- (hydrology) A stream of water (either natural or artificial) that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel.
- Antonym: tributary
- 1894, Herbert Michael Wilson, Engineering Results of Irrigation Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 270:
- The bed of the distributary is at a slight elevation above that of the main canal, and in the latter is placed an ordinary check regulator controlled by flashboards […]
- 1998, Sediment Behavior of Sangro Distributary, Mirpurkhas Sub-division, Sindh[4], page 6:
- The physical condition of the distributary itself is in bad shape due to poor maintenance over longer periods of time, especially in the head reach.
- 2001, James R. Penn, Rivers of the World: A Social, Geographical, and Environmental Sourcebook[5], page 115:
- […] stretches of blowing sand and frequent changes in course of its distributaries, does not have the dense population characteristic of other alluvial districts in the Indian subcontinent.
Translations edit
a stream of water that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel
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