What does "riverbed" mean?

The path where a river runs, or where a river once ran; the bottom earthen part of a river, not including the riverbanks.

What is a synonym for "riverbed"?

Common synonyms include: river bottom, creekbed, stream bed, streambed.

Pronounced //ˈɹɪv.əˌbɛd//.

//ˈɹɪv.əˌbɛd// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The path where a river runs, or where a river once ran; the bottom earthen part of a river, not including the riverbanks.
"Near-synonyms: streambed, creekbed"
2
a channel occupied (or formerly occupied) by a river wordnet

"This restaurant is located on the riverbed."

From river + bed. Compare Dutch rivierbedding (“riverbed”), German Flussbett (“riverbed”), Swedish flodbädd (“riverbed”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.