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Arkansas River

Arkansas River

1 3.5
A large river that starts in the Rocky Mountains and flows southeast to the Mississippi River
  • proper noun
  • /ˌɑrkənˈsɔːr ˈrɪvər/
translation icon : río Arkansas
  • Many people enjoy fishing in the Arkansas River during the summer months.
  • swollen Arkansas River
  • flooding along the Arkansas River
  • Arkansas River Valley

Examples

  • The Arkansas River flows through several states before reaching the Mississippi River.

  • I'm the boldest sinner on the Arkansas River, little lady.

  • Get an eagle's-eye view of the magnificent canyon in the 35-passenger Aerial Tram as it glides more than 1,200 feet above the Arkansas River.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The Royal Gorge is one of America's most spectacular attractions and is home to the world's highest suspension bridge, which spans the blue-green Arkansas River at a height of 1,053 feet.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The Arkansas River runs through Fort Smith, providing a scenic view for visitors.

Synonyms

Arkansas
vsArkansas River
18 3.0

A large river that flows from Colorado to the Mississippi

is described as running through the central United States rather than south-central

Surface Forms

Morphology

Arkansas + river

This is a straightforward place-name + noun construction: 'Arkansas' (a geographic name) + 'river' (a watercourse) names the river associated with Arkansas. The compositional pattern 'X River' is highly regular and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Arkansas River gets its name from a Native American people who lived along its banks. French explorers wrote that people's name as 'Arkansas', so the river was named Arkansas and still uses that name today.