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Glite Dictionary
👋 A signal 🌊 A small stream
beck

beck

4 8.5
A small stream of water, especially in northern England and Scotland
  • noun
  • /bɛk/
  • UK
translation icon : arroyo
  • During our hike, we stopped to enjoy the cool water of the beck that wound through the forest.

Examples

  • The children played by the side of the beck as it flowed gently through the valley.

  • Surprised to be alone a moment, toes pinched with cold, she stops in the roar of water beside the beck to sketch the shorn fields.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Wending that village was called, named for the beck, the sweet stream that used to wander through the beeches in better days.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The old mill is located near a picturesque beck that attracts many tourists in the summer.

Synonyms

brook
vsbeck
23 1.0

A small stream of water that flows in fields or woods

is the regional dialect term rather than the general natural watercourse
sike
vsbeck
  • Literature
9.9

A small stream or marshy channel in a field

is used for a small stream in those regions without marshy emphasis
brooklet
vsbeck
7.8

A very small stream that flows through a field or woods

is the general regional name without the extra small size emphasis
bourne
vsbeck
  • Archaic
9.6

A small stream that flows only after rain or in wet seasons

is a constant small watercourse in the region rather than an occasional flow

How Big

river
∞ 1.0
stream
244 1.0
brook
23 1.0
beck
  • UK
4 8.5
rill
3 8.6

Surface Forms

beck singular
becks plural

Etymology

Beck for a small stream comes from the old Norse word bekkr, which meant 'stream' and is like the English word brook. That's why in northern England a beck is simply a little river or brook.