Online OXFORD Collocation Dictionary

river noun

ADJ. broad, great, large, long, mighty, wide the mighty River Nile The river was too wide to swim across comfortably. | little, narrow, short, small | deep | shallow | high The river is still high after the recent rain. | low | fast-flowing | slow-moving, sluggish | winding | swollen The river was swollen after the floods. | navigable The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons.

VERB + RIVER cross, ford, get across We crossed the river by ferry. How are we going to get across the river? | bridge They've bridged the river at four points. | dam Wildlife groups are protesting against the proposal to dam the river. | dredge They're dredging the river to make it safer for larger boats. | navigate The rocks and sandbanks make the river hard to navigate.

RIVER + VERB flow, run, wind This river flows into the Mediterranean Sea. A river runs through the field. The river winds its way through the hills. | rise The river has risen with the rains. The river rises in Bulgaria and flows through Greece to the Aegean. | be in flood, burst its banks, flood (sth), overflow sth The river had overflowed its banks. | dry up This river dried up long ago.

RIVER + NOUN bank | water | valley | system | crossing | traffic

PREP. across a/the ~ There's a bridge across the river. | along a/the ~ We walked along the river. | down a/the ~, down by a/the ~, down to a/the ~ Let's go down to the river at sunset. | into a/the ~ He dived into the river. | in a/the ~ Trout live in this river. | on a/the ~ There was a rowing boat on the river. | up a/the ~ sailing up the river | ~ of (figurative) a river of lava

PHRASES the banks/bottom/middle/side/surface of a river They were waiting for us on the other side of the river. | a bend in the river, the course/direction of a river, the river's edge