the.com/streambed
The ground a river stands on, patient enough to outlast the water.
means The channel or floor over which a stream flows, made of rock, gravel, sand, or silt shaped by the current.
from Plain Old English compound: stream (flowing water) plus bedd (a resting place), the floor where water lies down to run.
Reads waterGeologists decode old streambeds to map vanished rivers.
Dry proofMars streambeds hint at ancient flowing water.
Gold trapHeavy gold settles in streambed gravel, hence panning.