Word for the day: river

river |ˈrɪv.ər|                                                                      *río (en Español)
DEFINITION

noun
a large natural stream of water flowing in a channel to the sea, a lake, or another river: the River Danube |the Mekong River | [ as modifier ] : river pollution.• a large quantity of a flowing substance: great rivers of molten lava.• used in names of animals and plants living in or associated with rivers, e.g. river dolphin.

PHRASESsell someone down the river informal betray someone, especially so as to benefit oneself.[earlier referring to the sale of a troublesome slave to the owner of a sugar-cane plantation on the lower Mississippi, where conditions were relatively harsher.]up the river N. Amer. informal to or in prison.[with allusion to Sing Sing prison, situated up the Hudson River from the city of New York.]
DERIVATIVESrivered adjective,riverless adjective
ORIGIN Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French, based on Latin riparius, from ripa ‘bank of a river’.

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