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# estuary

«estuary» in Mova's school dictionary: **the wide part of a river where it meets the sea, so fresh…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (an estuary, estuaries)

### meaning for a pupil

1) An estuary is the wide part of a river where it meets the sea, so fresh water and salty sea water mix. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/estuary/#m1)

2) (UK) Estuary English is a way of speaking common around London and the Thames estuary. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/estuary/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In geography and science lessons estuaries are habitats with mud flats, tides and many birds. Phrases: «the Thames estuary», «at the estuary», «tidal estuary», «Estuary English».

### examples

- The river widens into an estuary before it reaches the sea. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/estuary/#x1)
- Lots of wading birds feed on the mud in the estuary. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/estuary/#x2)
- Estuary water is a mix of fresh water and salt water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/estuary/#x3)
- At low tide the estuary turns into mud flats. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/estuary/#x4)
- We went on a field trip to the estuary to look for crabs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/estuary/#x5)
- The Thames estuary is in the south-east of England. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/estuary/#x6)
- Ships sail up the estuary to the port. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/estuary/#x7)
- My uncle speaks Estuary English and drops his t's. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/estuary/#x8)

### note

Plural: estuaries (y changes to ies). Say «ES-tyoo-ree». Countable. A delta is different: a delta is where a river splits into many channels and builds new land.

### In the corpora

- [Most great cities grew at useful spots: river crossings, natural harbours, estuaries or meeting points of trade routes.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/24-population-and-cities/20/)
- [An estuary is a river mouth where fresh water meets the tide, and many great ports grew on them.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/53-rivers-shaping-the-land/15/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «estuary» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/estuary/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.