Even smaller and shallower is a puddle (#36), typically consisting of dirty rainwater.A particularly shallow but broad sheet of standing water is sometimes referred to as a mere (#35), particularly in Old English dialects or literature.A pond (#34) is just a smaller version, and often formed artificially.We all know the common term for a large body of water surrounded by land on all sides that would be a lake (#33).Here, ships anchor while they wait to enter the port. In a similar vein, a sheltered body of water near the shore but slightly outside the enclosed harbor is sometimes called That’s slightly different than a port (#31), which are specifically defined as any geographical area where ships are loaded and unloaded.

Speaking of harbors (#30) these are defined as any area of water where ships can anchor and be sheltered from the rough waters and winds of the open ocean.

A cove will have just a narrowing opening to the sea, while a bight (#29) is a wide indent of the shore, like a bay but smaller and broader-these bights were historically a perfect safe harbor for pirates.

Smaller still we call a cove (#28), a small recess or indent in the shoreline that forms a sheltered nook with a narrow entrance.

Smaller than a gulf is a bay (#27) which is also largely landlocked but with a wider mouth.

A gulf (#26) is the largest of these broad inlets, and tends to have a narrow mouth opening to the sea.

The former is often found in coastal areas where the shoreline curves in, like a long broad indentation, so the sea is partially surrounded by land but with a wide mouth connected to the open ocean. There is sweeping category of bodies of water that are either partially or entirely surrounded by land.

And the headwaters (#25) is the source, the very beginning of a river or stream.

In the same realm, an estuary (#24) is where a river empties into the sea-the place where the mouth of the river meets out the ocean tide.

(It can also mean the place where a river or stream empties into the ocean, combining freshwater into salt water.)

A freshet (#23) is a sudden flow of freshwater from rapid heavy rain or melting snow after a spring thaw.

A meander (#22) is just what it sounds like, a turn or bend in a winding river.

a distributary (#21) is the opposite: a stream that branches off from the main river and flows away from it.

A tributary (#20) for that matter is any stream that flows into a larger main stream or river, while.

A bayou (#19) is very slow moving water, generally a tributary of a lake or river that is sluggish and marshy and filled with vegetation.

A spring (#18) is when water flows up from under the ground to the surface.

In Scotland and England, that’s sometimes called a burn (#17).

a syke or sike (#16, another Old English term for small stream, especially one that is dry in summer).

a ghyll (#15, a narrow stream or rivulet, or a ravine through which through small stream flows), and.

a crick (#14, a variation in the pronunciation of creek in parts of the U.S.),.

a beck (#13, a small river or synonym for stream or brook),.

a bourn (#12, a small stream, particularly one that flows intermittently or seasonally),.

a runnel, also called runlet, run, rundle or rindle (#10, again, a small stream or brook or rivulet),.

a streamlet (#9, yep, a small stream,),.

a kill (#8, an old Dutch term in colonial New York for creek or stream),.

a beck (#7, yet another name for small stream),.

a rill (#6, a very small brook or rivulet),.

Beyond that, small streams can be described as a rivulet (#5, a very small stream or baby stream),.

a brook (#4) is even smaller and often babbling.

A stream (#1) tends to be the generic term for flowing water a.To describe a small stream, you might use any of the following: You can step over a brook, jump over a creek, wade across a stream and swim across a river. who has compiled 58 different ways of describing bodies of water, Size Matters: Starting SmallĪs Meg explains, the distinction between the various terms is usually defined by size. Some 20 years later, I finally have my answer, courtesy of Meg Neal of Atlas Obscura. Their charming names notwithstanding, I wondered what the difference between a glen and a stream is. On our way there, we passed two streams, which Mike identified as Glen Doom and Glen Sorrow.

Hard to believe it’s already been over 20 yearsįor my 25th birthday, our good friend Mike took Electra and me for hill-climbing to the McDonalds stronghold outside of Edinburgh.

Another word for running your mouth