mainstem
River's main artery
Mainstem refers to the primary channel of a river system, as distinguished from its tributaries: Salmon return to spawn in the mainstem of the Columbia.
The term extends to the principal route or trunk line of any branching system—highways, railways, or organizational structures.
In drug culture, to mainstem (or mainline) is to inject directly into a major vein.
Main stem or storage
- principalChief school administrator
- centralIn the middle, primary
- primaryChief in importance
- dominantHaving superior influence
chief · arterial · major · backbone · core · original · parent · source
Stream entering larger river
- confluenceMeeting point of streams
- headwatersRiver's starting point
- channelPassage for transmission
- streamflowRiver water's measured movement
watershed · floodplain · meander · riparian · delta · estuary · discharge · hydrology
trunk
Main stem or storage
dominant · chief · arterial · major · backbone · core · original · parent · source
tributary
Stream entering larger river
- confluenceMeeting point of streams
- headwatersRiver's starting point
- channelPassage for transmission
streamflow · watershed · floodplain · meander · riparian · delta · estuary · discharge · hydrology · fluvial
mainstemtributary
Stream entering larger river
branch · feeder stream · distributary · affluent · creek