Greetings Folks,
This thread keeps getting added to with interesting snippets

faster than I can get my act together - so hopefully while you are all away at lunch I'll be able to get a couple of words in edgeways as I’d like to add my own grain of whatever it is that needs adding to this
rambla question (although much has already been covered by all you enthusiastic iberianatureforumers

).
As some of you may have noticed, the DRAE is not always the best source to turn to when it comes to words in Spanish (bit like that Collins many of you insist on using

, when looking for decent translations

) but it is nevertheless a source

. Below are extracts (non-relevant definitions deleted) and a couple of wikilinks I've embedded:
rambla.
(Del ár. hisp. rámla, y este del ár. clás. ramlah, arenal).
1. f. Lecho natural de las aguas pluviales cuando caen copiosamente.
2. f. Suelo por donde las aguas pluviales corren cuando son muy copiosas.
4. f. En Cataluña y otras zonas de Levante, calle ancha y con árboles, generalmente con andén central.
(The first two meanings above were the ones I knew of – and which I always use as an example of stupidity in urban planning when the powers-that-be in coastal villages/towns concrete them over, trying to make ‘em into
levees , thus preventing the parched soil absorbing some of that
gota fría (cloudburst/flashstorm? – anyone?)
arenal.
1. m. Suelo de arena movediza.
2. m. Extensión grande de terreno arenoso.
arroyo.
(Del lat. arrug?a, galería de mina y arroyo, voz de or. hisp.).
1. m. Caudal corto de agua, casi continuo.
2. m. Cauce por donde corre.
3. m. Parte de la calle por donde suelen correr las aguas.
4. m. calle (? vía entre edificios o solares).
7. m. Am. Mer. Río navegable de corta extensión.
Keep 'em coming!
Impressed regs.
Technopat
Ps.
I liked SueMac’s take on the word, so I followed it up:
Oxford English Dictionaryramble
• verb 1 walk for pleasure in the countryside. 2 (of a plant) grow over walls, fences, etc. 3 (often ramble on) talk or write at length in a confused or inconsequential way.
• noun a walk taken for pleasure in the countryside.
— DERIVATIVES rambler noun.
— ORIGIN probably related to Dutch rammelen (used of animals in the sense ‘wander about on heat’), also to RAM.