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Rinnsal

trickle, tiny stream

noun RIN-zal Rare
Travel & Places Geography

Usage Note

Rinnsal describes a very small, narrow stream, often seasonal or the result of melting snow. Used both literally and figuratively for something reduced to a small trickle: Das Gespräch versiegte zu einem Rinnsal (the conversation dwindled to a trickle).

Examples

"Im Sommer war der Bach kaum mehr als ein Rinnsal."

Natural Translation

In summer the stream was barely more than a trickle.

Literal Translation

In-the summer was the brook barely more than a trickle.

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