runnel

[ ruhn-l ]

noun

1. a small stream; brook; rivulet.
2. a small channel, as for water.

runnel

/ ˈrʌnəl /

noun

1. literary.
   a small stream

Word History and Origins

Origin of runnel¹

First recorded in 1570–80; run (in the sense “small stream”) + -el diminutive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of runnel¹

C16: from Old English rynele ; related to run

Example Sentences

A few rickety huts were plunked onto the mud, far from the runnels of the dropping tide.

From Washington Post

It’s outfitted with grooves known as runnels, for bicyclists to roll their tires.

From Seattle Times

All this lethal offal seeped and oozed into the ground, into the rills and runnels that flowed beneath our town, where we all drank well-water.

From New York Times

Reported the San Francisco Chronicle: “The sidewalks and runnels were strewn with the relics of a torturous month.”

From Los Angeles Times

He stared at the daubs and streaks and runnels of red, and this newest mystery, it wasn’t a pathway of light burning lines through his mind.

From Literature

Related Words

• current
• flood
• flow
• rush
• spate
• surge
• tide
• torrent
• tributary