streambed

Etymology

From stream + bed. Compare Dutch stroombed (“channel, streambed”), German Strombett (“channel”), Swedish strömbädd (“gully, ditch”).

noun

1. A channel through which a stream flows or used to flow.
   Thirty feet below her, where the Persians were crashing through the brush, the streambed kinked to the left side of the ravine and ran under an enormous thorn tree with a thick base. 1 April 2007, Thomas Harlan, The Shadow of Ararat: Book One of 'The Oath of Empire', page 294
   The easement restricts construction and will keep cattle mostly away from sensitive streambeds. November 7, 2007, Felicity Barringer, “Private Efforts to Preserve the Coast”, in New York Times