Definition of "spillway" []

• A channel for an overflow of water, as from a reservoir. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The spillway is located on the right bank, and it has 14 segmented sluice-gates with a total discharge rate of 62,200 cubic meters per second."
• "The spillway is a good place for rice and crawfish, and Marty Frey said that if it floods only once every 30 years or so, he believes it is well worth continuing to work there."
• "This intentional flood is more controlled, however, and residents are warned by the Corps each year in letters, reminding them of the possibility of opening the spillway, which is 4,000 feet long and has 125 gate bays."