What is Stream?
{{redirect|Creek}} {{globalise|date=January 2024}} {{no sources|date=January 2024}} [[File:Sprout Creek.JPG|right|thumb|Stream ]] A '''stream''' is a natural flow of [[water]] moving across [[land]] between [[bank (geography)|banks]]. It is smaller than a [[river]]. The primary meaning of '''stream''' is a body of water, confined within a [[Stream bed|bed]] and banks, and detectably flowing. [[Synonym]]<nowiki/>s or related words include [[river]], [[Creek (disambiguation)|creek]], [[tributary]], run, branch, [[brook]], bourne, wash, and [[Fork (geography)|fork]]. Navigable streams are sometimes called [[waterway]]s, though the term may apply to any size of permanent and natural water feature except [[ocean]]s. In the [[United States]], an [[intermittent]] stream that only flows for part of the year is marked on [[topographic map|topographic maps]] with a line of blue dashes and dots. In [[desert]] areas of the [[American Southwest]], this also includes [[wash (creek)|wash]]es, which only flow after [[thunderstorm]]s or other significant [[rain]]s. A blue-line stream is one which flows for most or all of the year and is marked on topographic maps with a solid blue line. In [[Australia]], an intermittent stream is usually called a creek, and marked on topographic maps with a solid blue line. Streams that form only during and immediately after [[precipitation]] are called [[Ephemera|ephemeral]] streams. Streams in [[Geography|geographic]] terms are awarded order designations. A stream of the first order is a blue-line stream which does not have any other blue-line stream feeding into it. A stream of the second order is one which is formed by the joining of two or more blue-line streams. A third-order stream is one below the confluence of two or more second-order streams; a fourth-order stream is formed by the confluence of at least two third-order streams, and so forth. Typically, streams are said to have a particular profile, beginning with steep [[gradient]]s, no [[flood plain]], and little shifting