milldam

[ mil-dam ]

noun

1. a dam built in a stream to furnish a head of water for turning a mill wheel.

milldam

/ ˈmɪlˌdæm /

noun

1. a dam built in a stream to raise the water level sufficiently for it to turn a millwheel

Word History and Origins

Origin of milldam¹

Middle English word dating back to 1150–1200; mill ¹, dam ¹

Example Sentences

“To say channel morphology is dependent on historic milldams is incorrect,” says Martin Doyle, a river ecologist at Duke University.

From Science Magazine

In the spring the shad ran upriver to breed, but they couldn’t get past the milldam, and the pool was just swarming with them.

From Literature

The scientists hope that identifying similar fossil tree-leaf sites will help the massive milldam restoration projects underway throughout the Northeast.

From Scientific American

In the American States, very numerous watermills have been erected within a few years, and there is scarcely a stream in the settled portion of the country which has not several milldams upon it.

From Project Gutenberg

Rather than tear down the whole milldam and radically change the surrounding ecosystem, the researchers recommend river restorers only remove part of it.

From US News

Related Words

• bank
• barrier
• dike
• ditch
• gate
• levee