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spillway

[ spil-wey ]

/ ˈspɪlˌweɪ /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR spillway ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a passageway through which surplus water escapes from a reservoir, lake, or the like.

Origin of spillway

First recorded in 1885–90; spill¹ + way¹

Words nearby spillway

spillane, spillikin, spillikins, spillover, spillproof, spillway, spilt, spilth, spim, spin, spin a yarn

Example sentences from the Web for spillway

Behind was the bubbling, leaping flow of the spillway itself, and Gatun Dam.

Raiders Invisible |Desmond Winter Hall
When the saw was still the water overflowed the "stop-logs" by the "spillway" into the pond below.

To Him That Hath |Ralph Connor
The spillway is a concrete-lined opening cut through a hill of rock near the center of the dam.

Boy Scouts in the Canal Zone |G. Harvey Ralphson
Preparations for taking several views of the big Gatun Dam from the lower, or spillway side, were made.

The Moving Picture Boys at Panama |Victor Appleton

You run up the hill the spillway channel is cut through; it iss high ground, and the golf course iss on high ground.

Raiders Invisible |Desmond Winter Hall

British Dictionary definitions for spillway

spillway

/ (ˈspɪlˌweɪ) /

noun

a channel that carries away surplus water, as from a dam Also called: wasteweir, spill