culvert

American  

[kuhl-vert] / ˈkʌl vərt /

noun

1. a drain or channel crossing under a road, sidewalk, etc.; sewer; conduit.

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culvert British  

/ ˈkʌlvət /

noun

1. a drain or covered channel that crosses under a road, railway, etc

2. a channel for an electric cable

3. a tunnel through which water is pumped into or out of a dry dock

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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.

Example Sentences

After a large-scale search, his body was found about 600m from the entrance to a culvert inlet behind Northwood Road in north Belfast.

From BBC • Jan. 19, 2026

A hole might have formed in the culvert from rust, age, damage, or other causes, leading water to seep from the soil fill into the culvert, weakening the structure.

From Slate • Oct. 17, 2025

The committee urged the Welsh government to support "a national, co-ordinated approach" to culvert management.

From BBC • Sep. 8, 2025

Before the rain, workers found more than 20 locations along Topanga Canyon Boulevard that required debris flow barriers and culvert replacements, along with other safety measures like rockfall cable mesh.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 2, 2025

There was no gap between the punt and the dark mouth of the culvert.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Related Words

• duct
• gutter
• pipe