culvert
Americannoun
noun
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a drain or covered channel that crosses under a road, railway, etc
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a channel for an electric cable
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a tunnel through which water is pumped into or out of a dry dock
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of culvert
First recorded in 1765–75; origin uncertain
Explanation
A culvert is a drain — but not the kind that drains your bathtub or empties your bank account. A culvert is any kind of channel or tunnel that directs unwanted water away from roads and other corridors of travel. A culvert is typically built underground to prevent inconveniently located streams and rain runoff from flooding roads, highways, streets, and railroads. Culvert can also be used as a verb: if water pools in your driveway and then seeps into the foundation of your house, soaking the brand-new carpet in the basement that you thought you’d just waterproofed, you might wonder why the builders didn’t culvert that underground stream.
Vocabulary lists containing culvert
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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.
See Examples For:
McKee said: "It was an absolute shock to us that Noah had lost his life in a culvert that the department maintained."
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
The family barrister said nobody had told the residents about potential risks and the department had not advised the residents that there was no padlock on the culvert hatch.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
The witness was also asked by the lawyer about safety issues that could have arisen for local families whose back gardens adjoin the waste ground where the culvert is located.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
The bridge spans a culvert, maintained by the city.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2026
Frightful dropped to the ground and, as the eagle dove once more, ran into Mole’s culvert.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
He navigated through culverts and climbed a steep hill of about 300 feet before hitting a hiking trail.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
Sometimes at the bottom of those undulations are culverts, or Department of Homeland Security vehicles will pop up.
From Slate ● Feb. 2, 2026
Local authorities were hampered by limited budgets and - because many culverts cross public and private land - there were unclear responsibilities for maintenance.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2025
More than a month after the evacuation order was lifted, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency acknowledged that multiple buildings in East Palestine were being contaminated as contractors cleaned contaminated culverts under and alongside buildings.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2024
Clouds of smoke rise from the mountains to the south and the east as Philippine demolition squads blast bridges and culverts, hoping to keep the Japanese at bay.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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.
