A yazoo stream is a hydrologic term for any tributary stream that runs parallel to, and within the floodplain of, a larger river which the stream eventually joins. Where the two meet is known as a belated confluence or deferred junction. This is especially the characteristic when such a stream is forced to flow along the base of the main river's natural levee. The name comes from the Yazoo River, which runs parallel to the Mississippi River for 280 km (170 mi) before converging, constrained from doing so by the river's levees.
"Yazoo stream", The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2006