bankfull
7.4
A river or stream filled to the top of its banks and close to overflowing
- adjective
- /ˈbæŋkˌfʌl/
- Specialized
:
a rebosar
- During the rainy season, the river became bankfull, threatening to overflow its banks.
Examples
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After heavy rainfall, the creek was bankfull, creating a picturesque but hazardous view.
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The bankfull condition of the stream caused our hiking trail to be submerged.
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For example, many channel and floodplain features, such as river bars and riffle-pool sequences, are formed and maintained by dominant, or bankfull, discharges.
Academic text (1997) -
These segments contain thick deposits of impounded sediments. In contrast, the in-channel impoundment is created by a beaver dam constrained by the bankfull channel.
Academic text (2010)
Antonyms
How Full
Surface Forms
bankfull positive
Morphology
Etymology
The word bankfull comes from bank ('edge of a river') and full ('filled'), so it describes a river or stream that has reached its banks. That's why when a river is bankfull the water is up to the top of the bank and is almost overflowing.