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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

bayou

/ˈbaɪu/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:55
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What does bayou mean?

noun

  1. A slow-moving, often stagnant creek or river.
  2. A swamp; a marshy (stagnant) body of water.

proper noun

  1. A surname.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈbaɪu/

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

The slaves then took a straight course for the Baton Rouge and Bayou Sara road, about four miles distant.
William Wells BrownClotelle; Or, The Colored Heroine, a tale of the Southern States; Or, The President's DaughterProject Gutenberg ebook #241
A bayou running into this lake was joined by a canal with Cushion Lake.
Emory Adams AllenThe Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished RacesProject Gutenberg ebook #2873
More book examples (3)
Between the stream and the hut lay a big abandoned field, where cattle were pastured when the bayou supplied them with water enough.
Kate ChopinThe Awakening, and Selected Short StoriesProject Gutenberg ebook #160
My vessel being refitted, I decided to load her with the famous mammoth tridaena shell of Keeling, found in the bayou near by.
Joshua SlocumSailing Alone Around the WorldProject Gutenberg ebook #6317
The wild-goose is more of a cosmopolite than we; he breaks his fast in Canada, takes a luncheon in the Ohio, and plumes himself for the night in a southern bayou.
Henry David ThoreauWalden, and On The Duty Of Civil DisobedienceProject Gutenberg ebook #205