Tributary
noun
A small river or stream that flows into a larger one.
The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River.
Often appears as...
- major tributary
- minor tributary
adjective
Supplying a larger body, such as a river, lake, or the like, with water, food, persons, etc.
The tributary rivers are critical to maintaining the lake's water level.
Often appears as...
- tributary stream
- tributary area
noun
A person or state that pays tribute to another state or ruler.
In ancient times, conquered nations often became tributaries to their conquerors.
Often appears as...
- pay tributary
- become a tributary
Usage tips
Formal, Disapproving
Historical
noun
A small river or stream that flows into a larger one.
The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River.
Often appears as...
- major tributary
- minor tributary
adjective
Supplying a larger body, such as a river, lake, or the like, with water, food, persons, etc.
The tributary rivers are critical to maintaining the lake's water level.
Often appears as...
- tributary stream
- tributary area
noun
A person or state that pays tribute to another state or ruler.
In ancient times, conquered nations often became tributaries to their conquerors.
Often appears as...
- pay tributary
- become a tributary
Usage tips
Formal, Disapproving
Historical
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Geographical Hierarchy
Understand that 'tributary' implies a hierarchy in streaming bodies of water, where it is subordinate to a larger one.
The stream forms a tributary, joining the more significant river downstream.
Pro Tip 2/3Direction of Flow
Tributaries flow towards the main river, never away from it, indicating a convergence.
You’ll find fish spawning where the clear tributary flows into the murky river.
Pro Tip 3/3Size Matters
The term 'tributary' often means a smaller stream, not necessarily a tiny one, just less significant compared to its receiving body.
Guided kayaking is available on this tributary before it merges into the roaring river.
Pro Tip 1/3Geographical Hierarchy
Understand that 'tributary' implies a hierarchy in streaming bodies of water, where it is subordinate to a larger one.
The stream forms a tributary, joining the more significant river downstream.
Pro Tip 2/3Direction of Flow
Tributaries flow towards the main river, never away from it, indicating a convergence.
You’ll find fish spawning where the clear tributary flows into the murky river.
Pro Tip 3/3Size Matters
The term 'tributary' often means a smaller stream, not necessarily a tiny one, just less significant compared to its receiving body.
Guided kayaking is available on this tributary before it merges into the roaring river.
Pro Tip 1/3Geographical Hierarchy
Understand that 'tributary' implies a hierarchy in streaming bodies of water, where it is subordinate to a larger one.
The stream forms a tributary, joining the more significant river downstream.
Pro Tip 2/3Direction of Flow
Tributaries flow towards the main river, never away from it, indicating a convergence.
You’ll find fish spawning where the clear tributary flows into the murky river.
Pro Tip 3/3Size Matters
The term 'tributary' often means a smaller stream, not necessarily a tiny one, just less significant compared to its receiving body.
Guided kayaking is available on this tributary before it merges into the roaring river.
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Video examples
Safari Live - Day 288 PIPE...
that runs through the middle section with an orange belly and it really is striking now it doesn't look that great in this picture as unfortunate the best picture I could find because the life there is quite dull but when we saw them in the Congo we were going along one of these little tributaries that goes out
Video examples
Frozen PIPE Yukon River Run
these small tributaries of the Yukon are shallower than the main river and are the first to freeze over as winter approaches vivianne go up front bust it out with a fight pole as we go there's a bit of a channel right up here you think we can get to that that help if we can and I'd be better
Video examples
Bryan Smith: Adrenaline...
that was predetermined for them and it happened to be the Rio alga the last remaining unknown tributary to the Amazon the one of the hardest places to get any information on because all the topo maps were littered with these big white blotches said dados insufficient
Video examples
Understanding the Lives...
centered around key hotspots in the environment usually the confluences of tributaries where the prey become more abundant so the Lions have food water and shelter and a pride to be able to reproduce successfully needs to have several of those hotspots so it can have
Video examples
We Are What We Eat:...
living in the Amazon. We went up river for about two days in dug-out canoes. After, you know, two-three days flights, buses, cars, whatever. We follow the Maniqui River right here which is a tributary of the Amazon. And eventually after two days we got here.
Video examples
What if 3D printing was...
instead of the doctor pulling off a stent out of the shelf that was just standard sizes, having a stent that's designed for you, for your own anatomy with your own tributaries, printed in an emergency situation in real time out of the properties
Video examples
Chasing Rivers, Part 2:...
And we found... negotiated our way back down the Gangotri glacier, it took us four days. And to give you an idea of how powerful this Ganges River is There was a glacial outburst from another one of its tributaries
Video examples
What would happen if...
filling nearby tributaries with crushed concrete. Rural and suburban areas decay more slowly, but in largely unsurprising ways. Leaks, mold, bug and rodent infestations - all the usual enemies of the homeowner-
Video examples
Probing Platypus...
world this is deer and Creek it's a tributary of the North Johnston river catchment it's one of the many upland freshwater streams in North Queensland and it's abundant in platypuses collecting genetic samples
Video examples
Close Call: When a Hippo...
important tributary 14 of us were on this unexplored event go to the bank go to the bank it's ultimate consequences aren't there there are no roads there's no access lepers
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 288 PIPE...
that runs through the middle section with an orange belly and it really is striking now it doesn't look that great in this picture as unfortunate the best picture I could find because the life there is quite dull but when we saw them in the Congo we were going along one of these little tributaries that goes out
Video examples
Frozen PIPE Yukon River Run
these small tributaries of the Yukon are shallower than the main river and are the first to freeze over as winter approaches vivianne go up front bust it out with a fight pole as we go there's a bit of a channel right up here you think we can get to that that help if we can and I'd be better
Video examples
Bryan Smith: Adrenaline...
that was predetermined for them and it happened to be the Rio alga the last remaining unknown tributary to the Amazon the one of the hardest places to get any information on because all the topo maps were littered with these big white blotches said dados insufficient
Video examples
Understanding the Lives...
centered around key hotspots in the environment usually the confluences of tributaries where the prey become more abundant so the Lions have food water and shelter and a pride to be able to reproduce successfully needs to have several of those hotspots so it can have
Video examples
We Are What We Eat:...
living in the Amazon. We went up river for about two days in dug-out canoes. After, you know, two-three days flights, buses, cars, whatever. We follow the Maniqui River right here which is a tributary of the Amazon. And eventually after two days we got here.
Video examples
What if 3D printing was...
instead of the doctor pulling off a stent out of the shelf that was just standard sizes, having a stent that's designed for you, for your own anatomy with your own tributaries, printed in an emergency situation in real time out of the properties
Video examples
Chasing Rivers, Part 2:...
And we found... negotiated our way back down the Gangotri glacier, it took us four days. And to give you an idea of how powerful this Ganges River is There was a glacial outburst from another one of its tributaries
Video examples
What would happen if...
filling nearby tributaries with crushed concrete. Rural and suburban areas decay more slowly, but in largely unsurprising ways. Leaks, mold, bug and rodent infestations - all the usual enemies of the homeowner-
Video examples
Probing Platypus...
world this is deer and Creek it's a tributary of the North Johnston river catchment it's one of the many upland freshwater streams in North Queensland and it's abundant in platypuses collecting genetic samples
Video examples
Close Call: When a Hippo...
important tributary 14 of us were on this unexplored event go to the bank go to the bank it's ultimate consequences aren't there there are no roads there's no access lepers
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Tim Griffin
American Politician
Currently, the Pegasus Pipeline runs through about 13 miles of the Lake Maumelle watershed and also crosses some of the lake's tributaries. I am especially concerned that the steepness of the shoreline at Lake Maumelle could exacerbate contamination of the water supply in the event of an oil spill and make cleanup more difficult.
Quote examples
Greg Davies
British Comedian
Myself and some kids on our estate became obsessed with the creation of the ultimate go-kart. This ambition culminated in the creation of a six-man super-cart, which was essentially a plank of wood with four wheels, and a failed attempt to jump a tributary of the River Severn powered only by Rex, our dog.
Quote examples
Nancy Gibbs
American Journalist
Rand Paul does not like being compared to his father Ron any more than sons named Bush like to dance in their father's shadow, but the crucial difference is that while the Bushes all hail from the relative mainstream of the GOP, the Pauls have an ideological tributary virtually to themselves.
Quote examples
Samuel Adams
American Revolutionary
If taxes are laid upon us in any shape without our having a legal representation where they are laid, are we not reduced from the character of free subjects to the miserable state of tributary slaves? We claim British rights not by charter only! We are born to them.
Quote examples
Rachel Sklar
Canadian Lawyer
Flying over New Orleans on our approach, I got it. There was no view of land without water - water in the great looming form of Lake Pontchartrain, water cutting through in tributaries, water flowing beside a long stretch of highway, water just - everywhere.
Quote examples
Sushma Swaraj
Indian Politician
The Ganga remains sacred from Gomukh, its source, to Ganga sagar, where it enters the ocean. It sanctifies the tributaries, which attain the very nature of Ganga. Similar is Sanskrit; sacred by itself, it sanctifies all that come into its contact.
Quote examples
Bruce Sterling
American Writer
You don't get to cut that chain of evidence and start over. You're always going to be pursued by your data shadow, which is forming from thousands and thousands of little leaks and tributaries of information.
Quote examples
Wayne Shorter
American Musician
When they say 'jazz,' I'm thinking of a word called 'the creative process.' It intersects every vein and tributary, avenue, path, that everyone's living. It crosses through there, but it's been contained.
Quote examples
Willy Ley
German Writer
Just as the water of a river near its mouth, in its final form, is composed largely of many tributaries, so an idea, in its final form, is composed largely of later additions.
Quote examples
David Hare
English Playwright
Politics is just a function of business now, just a tributary of the great entrepreneurial capitalist system.
Quote examples
Tim Griffin
American Politician
Currently, the Pegasus Pipeline runs through about 13 miles of the Lake Maumelle watershed and also crosses some of the lake's tributaries. I am especially concerned that the steepness of the shoreline at Lake Maumelle could exacerbate contamination of the water supply in the event of an oil spill and make cleanup more difficult.
Quote examples
Greg Davies
British Comedian
Myself and some kids on our estate became obsessed with the creation of the ultimate go-kart. This ambition culminated in the creation of a six-man super-cart, which was essentially a plank of wood with four wheels, and a failed attempt to jump a tributary of the River Severn powered only by Rex, our dog.
Quote examples
Nancy Gibbs
American Journalist
Rand Paul does not like being compared to his father Ron any more than sons named Bush like to dance in their father's shadow, but the crucial difference is that while the Bushes all hail from the relative mainstream of the GOP, the Pauls have an ideological tributary virtually to themselves.
Quote examples
Samuel Adams
American Revolutionary
If taxes are laid upon us in any shape without our having a legal representation where they are laid, are we not reduced from the character of free subjects to the miserable state of tributary slaves? We claim British rights not by charter only! We are born to them.
Quote examples
Rachel Sklar
Canadian Lawyer
Flying over New Orleans on our approach, I got it. There was no view of land without water - water in the great looming form of Lake Pontchartrain, water cutting through in tributaries, water flowing beside a long stretch of highway, water just - everywhere.
Quote examples
Sushma Swaraj
Indian Politician
The Ganga remains sacred from Gomukh, its source, to Ganga sagar, where it enters the ocean. It sanctifies the tributaries, which attain the very nature of Ganga. Similar is Sanskrit; sacred by itself, it sanctifies all that come into its contact.
Quote examples
Bruce Sterling
American Writer
You don't get to cut that chain of evidence and start over. You're always going to be pursued by your data shadow, which is forming from thousands and thousands of little leaks and tributaries of information.
Quote examples
Wayne Shorter
American Musician
When they say 'jazz,' I'm thinking of a word called 'the creative process.' It intersects every vein and tributary, avenue, path, that everyone's living. It crosses through there, but it's been contained.
Quote examples
Willy Ley
German Writer
Just as the water of a river near its mouth, in its final form, is composed largely of many tributaries, so an idea, in its final form, is composed largely of later additions.
Quote examples
David Hare
English Playwright
Politics is just a function of business now, just a tributary of the great entrepreneurial capitalist system.
Example 1 of 10
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