flume en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /fluːm/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- (US) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der. Proto-Indo-European *bʰlewH-der. Proto-Indo-European *bʰluH-yé-ti? Latin fluō Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Italic *-mn̥ Latin -men Latin flūmen Old French flumbor. Middle English flum English flume From Middle English flum, from Old French flum, flun, from Latin flumen, from fluere (“to flow”).
Meanings
-
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."
1898, Recreation, page 31:
-
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.
[…] aqueducts, wooden half-barrels laid on their sides and elevated on rusty trestles, to rush the icy spring water down the mountainside to the fields. This system of irrigation through flumes was simple, but effective. There were miles of flumes and, […] the children of the island used the flumes as water slides. The location of certain especially fast and dangerous flumes was kept secret in families for generations and passed on in unquestioned solemnity . It was against the law to use the flumes as water slides[…]
2012 July 4, Susanna Moore, The Whiteness of Bones, Vintage, →ISBN, page 4:[...] the flumes are generally not dark rides and they run much faster. Two notable exceptions are the Timber Mountain[…]
2001, Dale Samuelson, Wendy Yegoiants, The American Amusement Park, Motorbooks International, →ISBN, page 90:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| flumes | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (9)
fi ränni (open channel) · fi kouru (open channel) · gl corgo (ravine or gorge, usually with water) · gl canle (open channel) · fr flume (open channel) · fi uittoränni (open channel) · cs žlab (open channel) · fi kanava (open channel) · fi kuru (ravine or gorge, usually with water)