Rio Grande
22
3.0
- proper noun
- /ˈriːoʊ ˈɡrænd/
- Nearly every Hispanic village in the upper Rio Grande region has a community gathering place.
- Rio Grande Valley
- Lower Rio Grande
- Rio Grande Basin
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Watch on YouTubeAnd so they Reagan Canyon is where Spanish troops would pass through the Rio Grande River and come up into West TX on their way to sites like New Mexico.
- And so they Reagan Canyon is where Spanish troops would pass through the Rio Grande River and come up into West TX on their way to sites like New Mexico.
Examples
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The Rio Grande forms a natural boundary between the United States and Mexico.
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But my brother and my father never even got to taste the air on the other side of the Rio Grande.
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At present, the environmental condition of the Rio Grande is a state of drought.
Academic text (2005) -
In this case, they crossed the Rio Grande into McAllen.
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The third longest river in North America, the Rio Grande, runs through the middle of North America's largest desert.
Academic text (2004) -
You know you can rent a canoe and paddle across the Rio Grande to Mexico for lunch?
Fiction book (2001) -
She had spent her youth traveling with her parents from one harvest to the next, from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas to the San Joaquin in California.
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The environmental conditions of the Rio Grande have been affected by prolonged drought.
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Many people visit the Rio Grande for its beautiful scenery and outdoor activities.
Synonyms
2
4.5
A large river that forms part of the border between the United States and Mexico
Surface Forms
Morphology
rio + Grande
If a learner knows 'rio' (river) and 'grande' (large/big), the compound clearly reads as 'big river' and thus signals a river name; the referent being a specific boundary river is a predictable proper-name extension. This composition is cross-linguistically transparent (many languages use similar 'river + big' names), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE's basic meaning.
Etymology
The place name Rio Grande comes from the Spanish words rio ('river') and grande ('big'). Early Spanish speakers called it the 'big river' because it is wide and important for water and travel, so Rio Grande still names this large river that forms part of the border today.