nullah

Definition

A stream-bed, ravine, or other watercourse; a drain for rain or floodwater.

Etymology

Borrowed from Bengali নালা (nala), Hindi नाला (nālā), from Sanskrit नाडी (nāḍī).

Example Sentences

• "About this time a large gole of horsemen came on towards me, and I proposed to charge; but as they turned at once from the fire of the guns, and as there was a nullah in front, I refrained from advancing after them."
• "It was just after the exit from a bridge; the animal had probably come up out of the nullah."
• "Until a few years ago, much of the city’s sewage was released untreated into the Ganges via public drains, or nullahs, which discharged along the same bank as the ghats, where people habitually bathe."