es·tu·ar·y

[es-choo-er-ee]
noun, plural es·tu·ar·ies.
1.
that part of the mouth or lower course of a river in which the river's current meets the sea's tide.
2.
an arm or inlet of the sea at the lower end of a river.
Origin:
1530–40; < Latin aestuārium channel, creek, inlet, equivalent to aestu(s) tide + -ārium -ary

Related forms
es·tu·ar·i·al [es-choo-air-ee-uhl] , adjective

Can be confused: delta, estuary.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
estuary (ˈɛstjʊərɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n , pl -aries
1.  the widening channel of a river where it nears the sea, with a mixing of fresh water and salt (tidal) water
2.  an inlet of the sea
 
[C16: from Latin aestuārium marsh, channel, from aestus tide, billowing movement, related to aestās summer]
 
estuarial
 
—adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Estuary is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

estuary
1530s, from L. aestuarium "a tidal marsh or opening," from aestus "boiling (of the sea), tide, heat." Related: Estuaries; estuarine.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
estuary   (ěs'ch-ěr'ē)  Pronunciation Key 

  1. The wide lower course of a river where it flows into the sea. Estuaries experience tidal flows and their water is a changing mixture of fresh and salt.

  2. An arm of the sea that extends inland to meet the mouth of a river.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
estuary [(es-chooh-er-ee)]

A wide body of water formed where a large river meets the sea. It contains both fresh and salt water.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
The swimming pool overlooks the estuary.
Local sailors decorate their boats with flowers and sail to the estuary for a
  priest's blessing.
The spill affected the inner harbor and a nearby estuary.
The accident occurred near midnight on Wednesday near the estuary of the port
  channel.
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