Navigable Meaning
/ˈnævɪɡəbəl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjCapable of being navigated; deep enough and wide enough to afford passage to vessels.
adjSeaworthy; in a navigable state; steerable.
Sentence Examples
Algeria's rivers aren't navigable.
The river was formerly navigable throughout its course by small craft.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The river's depth and width made it ____ for very large commercial ships.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Deep dredging made the river much more ____ for larger commercial ships.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French navigable, from Latin navigabilis.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Shanghai is situated on this river, about twelve miles above Woosung; and the river is navigable for steam-boats forty-seven miles higher up—to the point where it issues from the small lake on the south of the canal. Chapoo, the town taken by the British immediately before the attack upon Woosung, is on the north side of the gulf of Che-kiang, about midway between its north cape and its innermost recess. Shanghai is the great emporium of the trade of this district with the tea-provinces on the South, with the province of Shantung and the coast of the Mantchoo Tartars on the North."
— 1842 November 26, “GEOGRAPHY OF THE DESPATCHES.”, in The Spectator, number 752, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1139, column 2:
"[...] on July 16, 1790, a public meeting [...] unanimously approved of a scheme for making the River Soar navigable from Leicester to Loughborough, and "a cut or rail-way from Swannington and the neighbourhood to the bason at Loughborough.""
— 1939 July 26, Charles E. Lee, “Swannington: One-Time Railway Centre”, in Railway Magazine, page 3:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The river's depth and width made it ____ for very large commercial ships.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Deep dredging made the river much more ____ for larger commercial ships.