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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