irrigation

American  

[ir-i-gay-shuhn] / ˌɪr ɪˈgeɪ ʃən /

noun

• irrigations
  plural

1. 

   the artificial application of water to land to assist in the production of crops.

2. Medicine/Medical. the flushing or washing out of anything with water or other liquid.

3. the state of being irrigated.

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irrigation Cultural  

1. Artificial provision of water to sustain growing plants.

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Discover More

Irrigation accounts for the greatest part of water usage in the western United States.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonirrigation
  noun
• overirrigation
  noun
• preirrigation
  noun
• reirrigation
  noun
• irrigational
  adjective
• preirrigational
  adjective
• proirrigation
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• irrigations
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of irrigation

First recorded in 1605–15, irrigation is from the Latin word irrigātiōn- (stem of irrigātiō ). See irrigate, -ion

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Explanation

Irrigation is the watering of land to make it ready for agriculture. If you want to start a strawberry farm in the desert, irrigation will be necessary. Irrigation comes from the Latin for "moist" or "wet," but it means the purposeful wetting of something. We wouldn’t really say that a storm provides irrigation (unless we were poetically trying to personify the storm). Irrigation systems are often complex combinations of canals, channels, and hoses. The word irrigation is also used in medicine to describe the process of washing out a wound before dressing it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

irrigation irrigations

The company is boosting testing of its irrigation water and crops in central Mexico, and investing in research and technology to improve cyclospora detection and prevention, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced in the summer a package of support , externalmeasures including grant funding to construct reservoirs and irrigation infrastructure.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

After storms subside, stored water can be used for irrigation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Howie Buffett joined Berkshire’s board in 1993, and has also served on the boards of irrigation and infrastructure company Lindsay Corp., packaged-food maker ConAgra Foods and Coca-Cola, in which Berkshire has a sizable stake.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Like a thousand giant anthills, they covered up all of those black irrigation hoses.

From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor

"I can go online and see what irrigations are needed down in Santa Barbara, 300 miles away," says Mr Maraden, who is based in Napa, north west of San Francisco.

From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2024

This is where nasal irrigations can be so helpful.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 28, 2022

“If you took all the people who say they have chronic sinusitis in the world, and you put them all on nasal saline irrigations, a big proportion would not have any symptoms anymore,” he said.

From New York Times ● May 12, 2011

Using satellite imagery between 1998 and 2002, Beman and colleagues discovered algae blooms up to 220 square miles large that followed just days after the periodic irrigations in the valley.

From Washington Post

I want some good crop to plant in the checks and give two good irrigations.

From One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered by Edward J. (Edward James) Wickson

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