Noah Webster
River
RI'VER, noun One who rives or splits.
RIV'ER, noun [Latin rivus, rivulus, rips.]
1. A large stream of water flowing in a channel on land towards the ocean, a lake or another river It is larger than a rivulet or brook; but is applied to any stream from the size of a mill-stream to that of the Danube, Maranon and Mississippi. We give this name to large streams which admit the tide and mingle salt water with fresh, as the rivers Hudson, Delaware and St. Lawrence.
2. A large stream; copious flow; abundance; as rivers of blood; rivers of oil