MEUSE (Flem. Maes, Du. Maas ), a river rising at Pouilly, in the department of Haute Marne, France. After passing through a great part of Belgium and Holland it flows into the Waal channel of the Rhine at Fort Loevenstein. A few miles below Gorinchem the Meuse, or Waal as it is then called, divides into two branches. The northern flows almost due west, and joins the Lek (Rhine) above Rotterdam, and enters the North Sea at the Hook of Holland. Ocean-going steamers for Rotterdam use, however, the New Waterway (Nieuwe Waterweg ), a little north of the Meuse. The southern branch turns south, crosses the marsh of Biesbosch by the canalized channel of New Merwede, enters the Hollandsch Diep, and reaches the sea by the arms called Haringvliet and Krammer.
The length of the Meuse is nearly 560 m., of which 360 are navigable, and probably its traffic is only exceeded by that of the Rhine. Near Bazeilles it disappears under ground for a distance of over 3 m. The Chiers, the Semois, the Lesse, the Sambre, the Ourthe and the Roer are its most important tributaries. In Belgium it is canalized between Liege and Vise, and the Dutch are engaged on the same operation below Maestricht. The principal towns on the Meuse are: in France, Verdun, Sedan, Mezieres and Givet; in Belgium, Dinant, Namur, Huy, Liege and Maeseyck; in Holland, Maestricht, Roermond, Venlo, Dordrecht and Rotterdam.