as in tributary
usually headwaters plural
the beginning part of a stream
the first exploration of the Missouri River from its mouth to its headwaters was made by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in the early 1800s
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Recent Examples of headwater
The report’s map showed the browns and yellows of persisting and developing drought across the entire Upper Colorado River Basin except in the Green River headwaters of Wyoming.
—
Brandon Loomis, AZCentral.com, 20 Mar. 2026
The area includes headwaters for the South Platte River, a source of drinking and agricultural irrigation water.
—Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 18 Mar. 2026
The northernmost headwaters of the Florida Everglades, Shingle Creek flows from the city into nearby Lake Tohopekaliga, eventually reaching the Everglades.
—Elizabeth Rhodes, Travel + Leisure, 11 Mar. 2026
Upper Basin States—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—contain headwater tributaries and receive much of their water resources through snowmelt and runoff that drain above Lee’s Ferry.
—Outside, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for headwater
Brandon Loomis, AZCentral.com, 20 Mar. 2026
The area includes headwaters for the South Platte River, a source of drinking and agricultural irrigation water.
—Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 18 Mar. 2026
The northernmost headwaters of the Florida Everglades, Shingle Creek flows from the city into nearby Lake Tohopekaliga, eventually reaching the Everglades.
—Elizabeth Rhodes, Travel + Leisure, 11 Mar. 2026
Upper Basin States—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—contain headwater tributaries and receive much of their water resources through snowmelt and runoff that drain above Lee’s Ferry.
—Outside, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for headwater
Recent Examples of Synonyms for headwater
Noun
-
Instead, year-round rain and snow feed the Salt River and its tributaries.—
Shi En Kim,
AZCentral.com,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Paul Faust, who lives in the Darlington area of Ligonier Township, has a small tributary to the Loyalhanna Creek in his backyard, but on Friday, that run was acting less like a stream and more like a moat.—
Chris Hoffman,
CBS News,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Its companion Renpho Health app (available for Android and iOS) tracks 50 health metrics, but some (like calories consumed and burned) rely on your input or external sources.—
Andrew Gebhart,
PC Magazine,
5 Apr. 2026
-
Lynn, frustrated not to know the source, began searching for it on her phone, but nothing came up.—
Catherine Lacey,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Headwater.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/headwater. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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