Backwater

Definition of backwater:

part of speech: noun

Water held back by a dam or weir the body of water thus held back; water thrown back by the turning of a water- wheel, etc.

Usage examples for backwater:

• It lay a couple of miles above the town, long and narrow, formed with a division of the river into its main current and a sluggish backwater "Young Barbarians", Ian Maclaren.

• Half a mile down the river there is a little backwater to hide. "The Huntress", Hulbert Footner.

• A cushion of backwater would then receive the sloop's forefoot in place of the snarling teeth of low crunching rocks. "The Veiled Lady and Other Men and Women", F. Hopkinson Smith.