arroyo.

A steep-sided watercourse or channel, especially one that is often dry and carries water after rain.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• dry arroyo
• sandy arroyo
• flash flood in an arroyo

On the page

The sandy arroyo crossed the open plain.

Rain upstream filled the arroyo before sunset.

They stayed above the arroyo when clouds gathered over the hills.

Usage notes

Primary category: environment. Forms: Singular arroyo; plural arroyos. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.