noun
ADJECTIVE
▪ broad , great , large , long , mighty , wide
▪
the mighty River Nile
▪
The ~ was too wide to swim across comfortably.
▪ major
▪
major ~s such as the Congo
▪ little , narrow , small
▪ deep
▪ shallow
▪ high
▪
The ~ is still high after the recent rain.
▪ low
▪ fast-flowing
▪ raging , rushing , white-water , wild
▪ flowing , free-flowing
▪ lazy , slow-moving , sluggish
▪ frozen , icy
▪ meandering , winding
▪ swollen
▪
The ~ was swollen after the floods.
▪ navigable
▪
The ~ is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons.
▪ underground
▪ coastal , mountain
▪ freshwater
▪ tidal
▪ polluted
▪ sacred
▪
the Ganges and other sacred ~s
▪ salmon
VERB + RIVER
▪ cross , ford , get across
▪
We crossed the ~ by boat.
▪
How are we going to get across the ~?
▪ swim
▪
We had to swim the ~. which is deep and very rapid.
▪ follow
▪
I had decided to follow the ~ to my destination.
▪ bridge
▪
They've bridged the ~ at four points.
▪ span
▪
The bridge once spanned the ~ Serein.
▪ dam
▪
Wildlife groups are protesting against the proposal to dam the ~.
▪ divert
▪
plans to divert the ~ further north
▪ dredge
▪
They're dredging the ~ to make it safer for larger boats.
▪ navigate
▪
The rocks make the ~ hard to navigate.
RIVER + VERB
▪ flow , run , wind
▪
This ~ flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
▪
A ~ runs through the field.
▪
The ~ winds its way through the hills.
▪ rise
▪
The ~ has risen with the rains.
▪
The ~ rises in central Africa.
▪ be in flood ( BrE ), burst its banks , flood (sth) , overflow sth
▪
The ~ had overflowed its banks.
▪ dry up
▪
This ~ dried up long ago.
RIVER + NOUN
▪ bank
▪ bed , bottom
▪ water
▪ level
▪
when the ~ level is low
▪ basin , channel , delta , mouth , plain , valley
▪ system
▪ crossing
▪ barge , boat , steamer
▪ traffic
▪ cruise , trip
▪ rock ( esp. AmE )
▪
as smooth as ~ rocks
▪ city , port , town
▪
a ~ town in Borneo
PREPOSITION
▪ across a/the ~
▪
There's a bridge across the ~.
▪ along a/the ~ , down a/the ~
▪
We walked along the ~.
▪
They sailed down the ~.
▪ down by a/the ~ , down to a/the ~
▪
Let's go down to the ~ at sunset.
▪ into a/the ~
▪
He dived into the ~.
▪ in a/the ~
▪
Trout live in this ~.
▪ on a/the ~
▪
There was a boat on the ~.
▪ up a/the ~
▪
We were sailing up the ~.
▪ ~ of ( figurative )
▪
a ~ of lava
PHRASES
▪ the banks, bottom, middle, side, surface, etc. of a ~ , the river's edge
▪
They were waiting for us on the other side of the ~.
▪ a bend in the ~
▪ the course of a ~ , the direction of a ~