watershed

[ waw-ter-shed, wot-er- ]

noun

1. Chiefly British. the ridge or crest line dividing two drainage areas; water parting; divide.
2. the region or area drained by a river, stream, etc.; drainage area.
3. Architecture. wash ( def 45 ).
4. an important point of division or transition between two phases, conditions, etc.:

   The treaty to ban war in space may prove to be one of history's great watersheds.

adjective

1. constituting a watershed:

   a watershed area; a watershed case.

watershed

/ ˈwɔːtəˌʃɛd /

noun

1. the dividing line between two adjacent river systems, such as a ridge
2. an important period or factor that serves as a dividing line

watershed

/ wô′tər-shĕd′ /

1. A continuous ridge of high ground forming a divide between two different drainage basins or river systems.
2. The region enclosed by such a divide and draining into a river, river system, or other body of water.

watershed

1. A ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river systems. On one side of a watershed, rivers and streams flow in one direction; on the other side they flow in another direction. Also, the area drained by a water system.

Notes

By extension, a “watershed” is a critical point that serves as a dividing line: “The parties reached a watershed in the contract negotiations.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of watershed¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; water + shed ²

Example Sentences

“I was actually shocked at how torn up that upper end of the watershed was,” Joab said.

From ProPublica

Each watershed was thought to be unique—leaving little ability to create a model that would work equally well across different river basins, Nevo explained.

From Fortune

Three-quarters of the 1,700-square-mile Tijuana River watershed lies in Mexico.

From Voice of San Diego

Given that most of the watershed is in Mexico, this is a binational issue.

From Voice of San Diego

I think an over-reliance on grants, especially in public media, is a whole bunch of coverage of the watershed and nowhere near enough coverage of City Hall.

From Digiday

The alleged FBI and U.S. Attorney investigations into the Newark Watershed may have something to do with that.

From The Daily Beast

In a recent interview with NJTV, Booker called the Watershed, “one of the big policy losses that I had in Newark.”

From The Daily Beast

He tells us about the devastating consequences of these toxins entering the watershed.

From The Daily Beast

To say that the past few years have been a watershed period of improvement for LGBT America is an understatement.

From The Daily Beast

The success of Guardians of the Galaxy maybe, just maybe, could be a watershed moment for women.

From The Daily Beast

He says he would have walked on to the watershed the first day had we only stiffened his force with the 29th Division.

From Project Gutenberg

In so far as our object was to follow up a glacier to the North Col we were now on the wrong side of a watershed.

From Project Gutenberg

In Butler County there are four refineries on the Walnut watershed upstream from the area surveyed.

From Project Gutenberg

A few years ago planting was undertaken on the watershed of the Colorado Springs, Colorado, reservoir.

From Project Gutenberg

On steep slopes a certain number of trees must be left to protect the watershed and to prevent the erosion of the soil.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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• lagoon
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