Bayou

//ˈbaɪ.(j)uː// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A slow-moving, often stagnant creek or river.

    "You natural persons old and young! / You on the Mississippi and on all the branches and bayous of the Mississippi! / You friendly boatmen and mechanics! you roughs!"

  2. 2
    a swampy arm or slow-moving outlet of a lake (term used mainly in Mississippi and Louisiana) wordnet
  3. 3
    A swamp; a marshy (stagnant) body of water.

    "At that time I had no staff officer who could be trusted with that duty. In the woods, at a short distance below the clearing, I found a depression, dry at the time, but which at high water became a slough or bayou."

Etymology

From Louisiana French bayou, from Choctaw bayuk (“a creek”). Doublet of bogue.

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