noun
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the act of catching or collecting water
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a structure in which water is collected
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the water so collected
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the intake of a school from one catchment area
Etymology
Origin of catchment
Vocabulary lists containing catchment
East Asia - Middle School
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East Asia - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Water voles use to be fairly common in the Hogsmill River catchment but the species, immortalised as Ratty in The Wind in the Willows, was "locally extinct" until 2025.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Laura Nee, catchment officer for the South East Rivers Trust, said the non-native species "predate on about one animal per day".
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The firm added: "We are committed to making the Pang catchment a leading example of how partnership and community-led restoration can help chalk streams thrive."
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Blakesley, a catchment technician with South West Water, said the pair could not believe it when they saw the nest.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
A hundred thousand people lived in the dam catchment area, but up to a million peasant farmers, coming from far away, relied on the clinic.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
