freshet

[ fresh-it ]

/ ˈfrɛʃ ɪt /

a freshwater stream flowing into the sea.

a sudden rise in the level of a stream, or a flood, caused by heavy rains or the rapid melting of snow and ice.

Origin of freshet

1590–1600; fresh (noun) + -et

2 See flood.

Well, but then it will run off from the brook a great deal too, and the freshet will not be so high.

Rollo at Play |Jacob Abbott
I went under and down, and was whacked by floating sticks and whirled around in the freshet.

Year of the Big Thaw |Marion Zimmer Bradley
To go over an unknown dam at freshet pace, as the result of an accident, was quite another.

Strange Stories of the Great Valley |Abbie Johnston Grosvenor
These in the shape of numerous little streamlets, flowing into the river, most of them still in freshet from the late rain.

Gaspar the Gaucho |Mayne Reid

For three weeks prior to the freshet, Mr Hill and one man averaged one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars a day.

Handbook to the new Gold-fields |R. M. Ballantyne

freshet

/ (ˈfrɛʃɪt) /

the sudden overflowing of a river caused by heavy rain or melting snow

a stream of fresh water emptying into the sea