wadi

American  

[wah-dee] / ˈwɑ di /

Also wady

noun

wadis plural

1. the channel of a watercourse that is dry except during periods of rainfall.

2. such a stream or watercourse itself.

3. a valley.

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wadi British  

/ ˈwɒdɪ /

noun

1. a watercourse in N Africa and Arabia, dry except in the rainy season

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wadi Scientific  

/ wä′dē /

1. A gully or streambed in northern Africa and southwest Asia that remains dry except during the rainy season.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• wadis
  plural

Etymology

Origin of wadi

First recorded in 1830–40, wadi is from the Arabic word wādī

Explanation

A wadi is a low, dry valley. The term wadi is most commonly used in Arabic-speaking parts of the world. This word wadi is mainly used to describe valleys and dry creeks and riverbeds in the Middle East and North Africa. A wadi might be a stream during the rainy season and a dry ravine during the rest of the year. Wadi comes from the Arabic wādī‎, "river" or "watercourse," and it appears in many place names — for example, Guadalajara comes from the Arabic wādī al-hidjārah, "river of stones."

Example Sentences

The desert riverbed, or wadi, had already subsided back to a trickle.

From Reuters • Sep. 14, 2023

Umm al-Hiran lies in a wadi, or small valley, not far from the large town of Beersheba at the top end of the Negev desert.

From BBC • Oct. 18, 2012

One last stretch of exposed terrain remained, a shallow wadi we had crossed to get to Devon Hill.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2012

“It shows a very strong sensitivity to the geology in the choice of colors for the rock, and also in the little colored spots that represent the gravel on the wadi floor,” Harrell said.

From National Geographic

At rather a large one, where the wadi forks, and which we reached at eight o'clock, we were to begin our ascent.

From Southern Arabia by Bent, Theodore