Flume
//fluːm// noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A ravine or gorge, usually one with water running through.
"Near the upper end of the portage the river falls 100 feet in as many rods, the water going at lightning speed through a natural flume in the rock. So rapid is the descent that the water in the flume is but 3 feet deep. We named this the "Devil's Slide.""
- 2 watercourse that consists of an open artificial chute filled with water for power or for carrying logs wordnet
- 3 An open channel or trough used to direct or divert liquids, especially to carry materials (logs, mined material, etc) or people (as a water slide), especially (but not always) one where the walls are raised above the surrounding terrain rather than recessed like a ditch.
"[...] the flumes are generally not dark rides and they run much faster. Two notable exceptions are the Timber Mountain[…]"
- 4 a narrow gorge with a stream running through it wordnet
Verb
- 1 To transport (logs of wood) by floating them along a water-filled channel or trough. transitive
Example
More examples"He rode the log flume at the amusement park."
Etymology
From Middle English flum, from Old French flum, flun, from Latin flumen, from fluere (“to flow”).
Related phrases
More for "flume"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.