Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The part of the wide lower course of a river where its current is met by the tides.
  • noun An arm of the sea that extends inland to meet the mouth of a river.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An arm or inlet of the sea, particularly one that is covered by water only at high tide.
  • noun That part of the mouth or lower course of a river flowing into the sea which is subject to tides; specifically, an enlargement of a river channel toward its mouth in which the movement of the tides is very prominent.
  • noun A place where water boils up.
  • Belonging to or formed in an estuary: as, estuary strata.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A place where water boils up; a spring that wells forth.
  • noun A passage, as the mouth of a river or lake, where the tide meets the current; an arm of the sea; a frith.
  • adjective Belonging to, or formed in, an estuary.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Coastal water body where ocean tides and river water merge.
  • noun An ocean inlet also fed by fresh river water.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the wide part of a river where it nears the sea; fresh and salt water mix

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin aestuārium, from aestus, tide, surge, heat.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin aestuarium ("creek”, “estuary of a river").

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