tributaries

noun

plural of tributary
as in headwaters
a stream that flows into a larger body of water the Amazon and its more than 1,000 known tributaries form the world's largest drainage basin

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tributaries Wildlife managers and volunteers will be closing more than 14 miles of stream and tributaries in Rocky Mountain National Park on Monday to start a weeklong operation meant to clear new habitat for Colorado's state fish. — Logan Smith, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026 In Michigan, the only state entirely within the watershed, officials are testing 200 tributaries for microplastics. — Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune, 23 Aug. 2026 The Brahmaputra and its tributaries carry enormous amounts of sediment from the Himalayas, continually reshaping channels, banks and river islands. — ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026 When large streams are elongated, more of the shorter tributaries can share those major channels, and this reduces the overall transport cost. — Natalie Wolchover, Quanta Magazine, 10 Aug. 2026 Presidio is protected by a series of berms and levees built in the 1970s and 1980s along the Rio Grande and tributaries to combat flooding. — Rebecca Santana, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2026 Chesapeake Bay tributaries are important spawning areas, producing between 70% and 90% of the coastwide population of striped bass. — Ken Perrotte, USA Today, 4 Aug. 2026 Environmental groups sent a letter threatening to file suit against Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for spills of fuel, sewage and other substances into the Flint River and its tributaries over a period of years. — Kelly Yamanouchi, AJC.com, 30 July 2026 The fun part was reaching every pole in every neighborhood in a town crisscrossed by tributaries of the Albany River. — IEEE Spectrum, 30 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tributaries
  1. headwaters
  2. branches
  3. affluents
  4. feeders
  5. sources
Noun
  • The agreement was made at a time when the region had a smaller population and benefited from wetter years, with much more snow to feed the river’s headwaters in the Rocky Mountains.
    — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Following an exceedingly warm year that has left the Colorado River’s headwaters in the Rocky Mountains largely snowless, Lake Mead is nearing a record-low level.
    — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026
Definition of headwaters
Noun
  • Tri-County acknowledged issues with tree branches touching power lines and committed additional resources for tree trimming and system inspections, while local businesses reported lost revenue from outages that often last one to two hours.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Aug. 2026
  • In addition, the parliamentarian refers to the appropriate committee legislation from the other chamber, communications from other branches of government and state and local governments, and petitions from private citizens.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of branches
Noun
  • On that note, the ACRC survey reported that 52% of affluents were disappointed with the options presented by luxury brands.
    — Pamela N. Danziger, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Definition of affluents
Noun
  • The discovery came out of a community science project in the Chiricahuas, in which researchers detected bat DNA in homeowners’ hummingbird feeders.
    — Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Use puzzle feeders, wand toys and short play sessions to encourage movement.
    — Lauren Paige Richeson, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of feeders
Noun
  • Renewable energy credits serve as proof that a company uses electricity from clean energy sources like solar farms, according to the Retail Energy Supply Association.
    — Sydney Sasser, Arkansas Online, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Other dark leafy greens, such as Swiss chard and collard greens, are good sources, too.
    — Jo Ann Liguori, Flow Space, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of sources

Browse Nearby Words

tribunes
tributaries
tributary
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tributaries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tributaries. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All