es|tu|ar|y

es|tu|ar|y «EHS chu _EHR ee», noun, plural -ar|ies.

1. a broad mouth of a river, into which the tide flows: »

An estuary is a semi-enclosed, coastal body of water which has free connection with the open sea and within which sea water is measurably diluted with fresh water derived from land drainage (D. W. Pritchard).

2. an inlet of the sea. SYNONYM(S): firth.

╂[< Latin aestuārium < aestus, -ūs boiling (of the sea), tide]