anabranch Physical Geogr.
(ˈænəbrɑːn(t)ʃ, -æ-)
[f. anastomosing ppl. a. + branch n.]
Esp. in Australia: a branch stream which turns out of a river and re-enters it lower down.
| 1834 J. R. Jackson in Jrnl. R. Geogr. Soc. IV. 79 Thus, such branches of a river as after separation re-unite, I would term anastomosing-branches; or, if a word might be coined, ana-branches. 1847 Leichhardt Jrnl. ii. 35 The river..divided into ana-branches which..made the whole valley a maze of channels. 1849 C. Sturt Central Austr. I. 93 To ascertain how high the back-waters of the Murray had gone up the Ana-branch of the Darling. 1907 H. Lawson Send round the Hat in Prose Wks. (1948) 649 He rode round the outside track and came in on to the river just below where the anabranch joins it. |