flood plain
or floodplain
a nearly flat plain along the course of a stream or river that is naturally subject to flooding.
Origin of flood plain
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use flood plain in a sentence
At Little Falls, Minn., flood-plain, deposits of sand and gravel are found to contain many artificial objects of quartz.
The Myths of the North American Indians | Lewis SpenceThose using the slough are almost certainly permanent inhabitants of the river flood plain.
Field Study of Kansas Ant-Eating Frog | Henry S. FitchIn times of flood they are carried far away from the regular channel and spread over the wide flood-plain of the river.
The Adventures of a Grain of Dust | Hallam HawksworthThe extension seaward of this flood plain forms the broad delta at the river's mouth.
North America | Israel C. RussellAlong its lower course “the flood plain is bordered by high bluffs of yellow sandstone.”
The Yellowstone National Park | Hiram Martin Chittenden
British Dictionary definitions for flood plain
the flat area bordering a river, composed of sediment deposited during flooding
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for floodplain
[ flŭd′plān′ ]
Flat land bordering a river and made up of alluvium (sand, silt, and clay) deposited during floods. When a river overflows, the floodplain is covered with water.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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