Definitions

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

  • adjective Sufficiently deep or wide to provide passage for vessels.
  • adjective Capable of being steered. Used of boats, ships, or aircraft.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Capable of being navigated; affording passage to ships: as, a navigable river.
  • Subject to a public right of water-passage for persons or property.

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

  • adjective Capable of being navigated; deep enough and wide enough to afford passage to vessels.

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

  • adjective : capable of being navigated; deep enough and wide enough to afford passage to vessels.
  • adjective : seaworthy; in a navigable state; steerable.
  • adjective : steerable, dirigible
  • adjective Easy to navigate.

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

  • adjective able to be sailed on or through safely

Etymologies

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Examples

  • In Michigan, you the sportsperson have the right to fish in navigable streams, up to this ordinary high water mark.

    On Stream Rights In Utah 2009

  • In Michigan, you the sportsperson have the right to fish in navigable streams, up to this ordinary high water mark.

    On Stream Rights In Utah 2009

  • You can't use the calendar to pinpoint smallmouth whereabouts in navigable rivers, but it does help to know that their location follows a general pattern.

    Rivers of Bronze 2005

  • The word navigable is so vague that it requires some definition before we can apply it to any particular stream.

    The Historic Thames Hilaire Belloc 1911

  • With more serious fare and fewer glitzy stars, that means even the streets are a tad more navigable, which is nice.

    Michael Giltz: Cannes 2010 Day Four and Five: Mike Leigh's New Gem and Inside Job Rocks The Fest 2010

  • Earlier this month, the LA River was declared "navigable" by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and thus subject to the Clean Water Act Protections for the first time.

    Hidden LA River Tour With Jenny Price 2010

  • The Supreme Court, with Bush administration backing, held that only "navigable" waterways could enjoy protections of this law.

    Trip Van Noppen: Clean Water Restoration Act Provides Hope 2009

  • The current of the Crati is more spasmodic and destructive than in classical times when the river was "navigable"; and to one of its inundations may be due this legend of the deluge; to the same one, maybe, that affected the courses of this river and the Coscile, mingling their waters which used to flow separately into the Ionian.

    Old Calabria Norman Douglas 1910

  • St. Rhémy, for the road (which broadened there, and became "navigable" for motor cars as well as horse-drawn vehicles), wound down still among stupendous mountains capped with snow, jagged peaks of dark granite, and purple porphyry which glowed crimson in contrast with the dazzling snow.

    The Princess Passes 1901

  • Colorado has no "navigable" rivers under English common law, said John Hill, a lawyer for the Gunnison property owner who banned rafting companies on the Taylor River.

    Durangoherald.com 2010

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