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# tributary

«tributary» in Mova's school dictionary: **a river or stream that flows into a bigger river or a lake** — 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 (a tributary, tributaries); adjective (tributary)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A tributary is a river or stream that flows into a bigger river or a lake. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tributary/#m1)

2) A tributary can also be a state or kingdom that pays tribute to a stronger ruler. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tributary/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In geography lessons: rivers have a source, tributaries, a confluence (where they meet), a mouth. The Missouri is a tributary of the Mississippi. Phrases: tributary of, main river and its tributaries.

### examples

- The stream is a tributary of the River Thames. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tributary/#x1)
- Many tributaries join the Amazon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tributary/#x2)
- The place where a tributary meets the main river is called a confluence. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tributary/#x3)
- The tributary was flooded after the rain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tributary/#x4)
- Label the tributaries on the map. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tributary/#x5)
- The river gets bigger as more tributaries join it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tributary/#x6)
- Balsora was the capital of a kingdom long tributary to the caliph. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tributary/#x7)

### note

Plural: tributaries. Do not confuse with "distributary", a branch that flows away from a river, often near the sea. In maths: the water in the main river below a confluence is roughly the sum of the flows coming in.

### In the corpora

- [A tributary is a smaller river or stream that flows into a bigger river.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/64-rivers-lakes-and-the-sea/7/)
- [She that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/LAM.2/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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