waterfall

See also: Waterfall

English

Dangar Falls, a waterfall in Australia (sense 1)

Etymology

From Middle English waterfal, waterfalle, from Old English wæterġefeall (“waterfall”), equivalent to water +‎ fall. Cognate with West Frisian wetterfal (“waterfall”), Dutch waterval (“waterfall”), German Wasserfall (“waterfall”), Swedish vattenfall (“waterfall”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwɔːtəfɔːl/
• (US) enPR: wôʹtər-fôl, IPA^(key): /ˈwɔtɚfɔl/, /ˈwɑtɚfɔl/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈwɑtɚfɑl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːl

Noun

waterfall (plural waterfalls)

1. A flow of water over the edge of a cliff.

   Synonyms: cataract, cascade, falls, (nothern England) force, (nothern England) foss, forcefall, (US, Canada) sault, (uncommon) catadupe

2. (figuratively) A waterfall-like outpouring of liquid, smoke, etc.

   A waterfall of mist came from the open freezer.

3. (software engineering) Short for waterfall model

   A very long duration project […] had taken a whole group of people through a painful waterfall development process.

4. (slang, US) The action of drinking from a vessel without touching it with the lips, considered more sanitary for a shared vessel.

   Hey man, can I take a waterfall from your bottle?

5. (colloquial, dated) A necktie.
6. (colloquial, dated) A chignon (hairstyle).
7. (colloquial, dated) A beard.
   • 1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter LXXIX, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, pages 569–570:

     I found home a dreary place after my long absence; for half the children I had known were now wearing whiskers or waterfalls, […]

8. (gymnastics) A kind of handstand with chin tucked and back arched.

Derived terms

• coastal waterfall
• waterfall bong
• waterfall effect
• waterfall illusion
• waterfall layout
• waterfall model
• waterfall plot
• waterfall skirt
• waterfall stomach

Translations

flow of water over the edge of a cliff — see also cataract,‎ falls

• Abenaki: panjahlôk
• Adyghe: псыкъефэх (psəqefɛx)
• Afrikaans: waterval (af)
• Ainu: ソ (so)
• Albanian: ujëvarë (sq) f, skuranë, lëvare (sq) f
• Amharic: ፏፏቴ (fʷafʷate)
• Amis: cascas
• Apache:

  Western Apache: túnálį́į́’

• Arabic: شَلَّال m (šallāl)

  Egyptian Arabic: شلّال m (šallāl)

  Hijazi Arabic: شَلَّال m (šallāl)

• Aragonese: salto d'augua m
• Armenian: ջրվեժ (hy) (ǰrvež)
• Asi: busáy
• Asturian: catarata (ast) f, saltu d'agua (ast) m, saltadoriu (ast) m, pimplón (ast) m, tabayón (ast) m
• Avar: чвахи (čʷaxi)
• Azerbaijani: şəlalə (az)
• Bashkir: шарлауыҡ (şarlawıq)
• Basque: ur-jauzi
• Belarusian: вадаспа́д m (vadaspád)
• Bengali: ঝরনা (bn) (jhorna), জলপ্রপাত (bn) (jolopropat)
• Bhojpuri: झरना (jharᵊnā)
• Bihari: झरना
• Bikol Central: busay (bcl)
• Breton: lamm-dour
• Brunei Bisaya: wasai
• Brunei Malay: wasai, aing terajun
• Bulgarian: водопа́д m (vodopád)
• Burmese: ရေတံခွန် (my) (retamhkwan)
• Catalan: cascada (ca) f
• Cebuano: busay
• Central Dusun: wasai
• Chechen: чухчари (čuxčari)
• Cherokee: ᎠᎹᏍᎧᎦᎯ (amaskagahi)
• Chichewa: dziwe
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 瀑布 (buk⁶ bou³)

  Eastern Min: 瀑布 (bŭk-buó)

  Hakka: 瀑布 (phau-pu)

  Hokkien: 瀑布 (zh-min-nan) (pho̍k-pò͘)

  Mandarin: 瀑布 (zh) (pùbù)

  Wu: 瀑布 (⁸boq-pu; ⁶bau-pu)

• Chinook Jargon: tumwata
• Chuvash: шарлак (šarlak)
• Coastal Kadazan: vasai
• Cornish: dowrlam
• Czech: vodopád (cs) m
• Danish: vandfald (da) n
• Dupaningan Agta: tapaw
• Dutch: waterval (nl) f
• Eastern Bontoc: oto
• Erzya: ведьпрамо (veďpramo)
• Esperanto: akvofalo (eo), kaskado
• Estonian: kosk, juga (et)
• Faroese: fossur (fo) m
• Fijian: savu (fj)
• Finnish: vesiputous (fi)
• French: cascade (fr) f, chute d'eau (fr) f
• Galician: fervenza f cadoiro m cachoeira f, freixa, seimeira (gl) f, cenza f
• Georgian: ჩანჩქერი (ka) (čančkeri), წყალვარდნილი (c̣q̇alvardnili) (rare)
• German: Wasserfall (de) m (common), Katarakt (de) m
• Greek: καταρράκτης (el) m (katarráktis)

  Ancient: καταρράκτης m (katarrháktēs)

• Guaraní: ytu, chororo
• Gujarati: ધોધ m (dhodh)
• Haitian Creole: kaskad
• Hawaiian: wailele
• Hebrew: מַפַּל מַיִם (he) m (mapál máyim)
• Hiligaynon: talogan
• Hindi: जलप्रपात (hi) m (jalaprapāt), झरना (hi) m (jharnā)
• Hungarian: vízesés (hu), zuhatag (hu)
• Icelandic: foss (is) m
• Ido: aquofalo (io)
• Igbo: nsụda mmiri
• Ilocano: dissuor
• Indonesian: air terjun (id)
• Ingrian: koski
• Interlingua: cascada
• Inuktitut: ᖁᖅᓗᕐᓂᖅ (qoqlorniq)
• Iranun: aig a tibpu'
• Irish: eas (ga) m
• Italian: cascata (it) f, rapida (it) f
• Japanese: 瀑布 (ja) (ばくふ, bakufu), 滝 (ja) (たき, taki)
• Javanese: ꦒꦿꦺꦴꦗꦺꦴꦒꦤ꧀ (jv) (grojogan)
• Kalasha: uč̣hár
• Kanakanabu: caacan
• Kannada: ಜಲಪಾತ (kn) (jalapāta), ಧಬಧಬೆ (kn) (dhabadhabe), ಅಬ್ಬಿ (kn) (abbi), ಜೋಗು (kn) (jōgu), ನೀರಿನ ಬೀಳು (kn) (nīrina bīḷu)
• Kapampangan: tulari
• Karachay-Balkar: чучхур (çuçxur)
• Kazakh: құлама (qūlama), сарқырама (kk) (sarqyrama)
• Khmer: ទឹកធ្លាក់ (tɨk thlĕək)
• Khowar: غوݯھار (ġoc̣hár)
• Kimaragang: vasoi
• Kinaray-a: tarogan
• Korean: 폭포(瀑布) (ko) (pokpo)
• Kumyk: шаршар (şarşar)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: تاڤگە (ckb) (tavge)

  Northern Kurdish: gilale (ku), sûlav (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: шаркыратма (ky) (şarkıratma), шаркырама (ky) (şarkırama)
• Lao: ນ້ຳຕົກຕາດ (nam tok tāt), ນ້ຳຕົກ (nam tok), ຕົກຕາດ (tok tāt), ນ້ຳຕາດ (nam tāt), ນ້ຳໂຕນຕາດ (nam tōn tāt), ນ້ຳໂຕນຜາ (nam tōn phā), ໂຕນຕາດ (tōn tāt)
• Latin: cataracta f, aquae dēiectus m, aqua dēsiliēns f
• Latvian: ūdenskritums m
• Limburgish: waterval (li)
• Lithuanian: krioklys m
• Lotud: wasai
• Lü: please add this translation if you can
• Lubuagan Kalinga: teub
• Luxembourgish: Waasserfall (lb) m
• Macedonian: водопад (mk) m (vodopad)
• Malagasy: riana (mg), rian-drano (mg)
• Malay: air terjun (ms), air memancur
• Malayalam: വെള്ളച്ചാട്ടം (veḷḷaccāṭṭaṁ)
• Maltese: kaskata f
• Manchu: ᡨᡠᡵᠠᡴᡡ (turakū)
• Manx: eas m
• Maori: hīrere, hohō, tāheke, wairere
• Mapudungun: trayken
• Marathi: धबधबा m (dhabadhbā)
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: вӱдшуҥгалтыш (vüdšuŋgaltyš)

• Minangkabau: sarasah (min)
• Mingrelian: წყარგელაფუ (c̣q̇argelapu)
• Mon: ဍာ်ဆၚ်
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: хүрхрээ (mn) (xürxree)

• Navajo: hadahiilį́
• Nepali: झरना (ne) (jharanā)
• Newar: झ्वाला (jhwālā)
• Northern Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: foss (no) m, fossefall n, vannfall n, vassfall n

  Nynorsk: foss (nn) m, fossefall n, vassfall n

• Occitan: cascada (oc) f, chorrèra (oc) f
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: хлѧбь f (xlębĭ)

• Old English: wæterġefeall n
• Old Norse: fors
• Oromo: finchaa (om)
• Ossetian: ӕхсӕрдзӕн (æxsærʒæn)
• Pashto: آبشار (ps) m (ābšār), زاوه f (zāwa), بربړوک m (barbaṛuk), ګړونګه f (gaṛunga)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: آبْشار (fa) (âbšâr)

• Pitjantjatjara: waḻa
• Plautdietsch: Wotafaul
• Polish: wodospad (pl) m
• Portuguese: cachoeira (pt) f, queda-d'água (pt) f, cascata (pt) f, salto (pt) m, catarata (pt)
• Punjabi: ਝਰਨਾ m (jharnā)
• Quechua: phaqcha, pagca, pagza
• Romanian: cascadă (ro) f, cădere de apă (ro) f
• Rungus: vosoi
• Russian: водопа́д (ru) m (vodopád)
• Sanskrit: जलपात m (jalapāta), जलप्रपात (sa) m (jalaprapāta)
• Santali: ᱡᱷᱟᱨᱱᱟ (jharna)
• Sardinian: ciurràrgiu m
• Scots: watterfaw
• Scottish Gaelic: linne f, eas (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: во̏допа̄д m, сла̑п m, бу̑к m

  Roman: vȍdopād (sh) m, slȃp (sh) m, bȗk (sh) m

• Shan: please add this translation if you can
• Shona: mapopoma
• Sinhalese: දිය ඇල්ල (diya ælla)
• Skolt Sami: kuõškk
• Slovak: vodopád m
• Slovene: slap (sl) m
• Somali: biyo-dhac
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: wodopad

• Southern Kalinga: pakungupung, poy-asan
• Spanish: catarata (es) f, cascada (es) f, caída de agua f
• Sundanese: ᮎᮥᮛᮥᮌ᮪ (curug), curug (su)
• Swahili: maanguko class 5/6
• Swedish: vattenfall (sv) n
• Tagal Murut: bosoi
• Tagalog: talon
• Tajik: обшор (obšor), шаршара (šaršara), шалола (šalola)
• Tambunan Dusun: wasai
• Tamil: நீர்வீழ்ச்சி (ta) (nīrvīḻcci)
• Tarifit: ašaršar m
• Tatar: шарлавык (tt) (şarlawıq)
• Telugu: జలపాతము (te) (jalapātamu)
• Thai: น้ำตก (th) (náam-dtòk)
• Tibetan: བབས་ཆུ (babs chu)
• Timugon Murut: bosoi
• Tulu: ಜಲಪಾತ (jalapāta)
• Turkish: çağlayan (small), çavlan (large), şelale (tr)
• Turkmen: şaglawuk
• Ukrainian: водоспа́д (uk) m (vodospád)
• Urdu: آبْشار (ur) f (ābśār)
• Uyghur: شارقىراتما (sharqiratma)
• Uzbek: shalola (uz), sharshara (uz)
• Vietnamese: thác nước (vi), thác (vi)
• Võro: viisadang
• Walloon: ertcheute d' aiwe
• Waray-Waray: tubighóg
• Welsh: rhaeadr f, pistyll m, sgwd m
• West Coast Bajau: boe' pansur
• West Frisian: wetterfal c
• Western Panjabi: چھمبر (pnb) (chmbr)
• White Hmong: please add this translation if you can
• Xhosa: ingxangxasi class 9/10
• Yakut: күрүлгэн (kürülgen)
• Yiddish: וואַסערפֿאַל (vaserfal)
• Yoruba: isosileomi
• Zhuang: raemxgienghdat
• Zulu: impophoma class 9/10

waterfall-like outpouring

• Arabic: شَلَّال m (šallāl)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 瀑布 (zh) (pùbù)

• Czech: vodopád (cs) m
• Dutch: waterval (nl) f
• Finnish: hyöky
• German: Wasserfall (de) m, Kaskade (de) f
• Hebrew: מפל (he) m (mapál)
• Hindi: झरना (hi) m (jharnā)
• Hungarian: zuhatag (hu)
• Italian: cascata (it) f
• Japanese: 滝 (ja) (たき, taki)
• Kannada: ಅಬ್ಬಿ (kn) (abbi)
• Macedonian: водопад (mk) m (vodopad)
• Norwegian: foss (no) m
• Persian: آبشار (fa) (âbšâr), فوران (fa) (favarân)
• Polish: wodospad (pl) m
• Portuguese: cascata (pt) f
• Romanian: cascadă (ro) f
• Russian: водопа́д (ru) m (vodopád), каска́д (ru) m (kaskád)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: во̏допа̄д m

  Roman: vȍdopād (sh) m

• Spanish: cascada (es) f
• Swedish: vattenfall (sv) n, fors (sv) c
• Welsh: rhaeadr, pistyll, sgwd

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} akvofalo (eo)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} kaskado (io), ^{(please verify)} aquofalo (io)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} air terjun (id)
• Malayalam: ^{(please verify)} വെള്ളച്ചാട്ടം (veḷḷaccāṭṭaṁ)
• Maltese: ^{(please verify)} nixxiegħa f
• Tamil: ^{(please verify)} நீர்வீழ்ச்சி (ta) (nīrvīḻcci)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} జలపాతం (te) (jalapātaṁ)

Verb

waterfall (third-person singular simple present waterfalls, present participle waterfalling, simple past and past participle waterfalled)

1. (intransitive) To fall like a waterfall.
   • 1994, Nora Roberts, Private Scandals, page 54:

     Rain ran off the bill of his fielder's cap and waterfalled in front of his face.

   • 1999, Jane Yolen with Bruce Coville, Armageddon Summer, page 79:

     Zondra, whose dirty-blond hair waterfalled above her head from a colorful tie, gave a snorting, horsey kind of laugh.

   • 2008, John Gardner, No Human Enemy, page 156:

     they turned into the drive of The Manor with its red-brick front and the wonderful cloak of Virginia creeper waterfalling down between the windows.

2. (transitive) To drink (something) from a container by pouring it from a height so as not to touch one's lips to the rim.
3. (roller derby) Synonym of recycle.

Derived terms

• waterfalled
• waterfalling

See also

• cloudfall
• icefall
• smokefall
• forcefall