drainage basin

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR drainage basin ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the area drained by a river and all its tributaries.Also called catchment area, drainage area.Compare watershed(def 2).

Origin of drainage basin

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for drainage basin

watershed

Examples from the Web for drainage basin

Historical Examples of drainage basin

Taken as a whole, the Two Medicine drainage-basin is an epitome of Glacier in miniature.
The Book of the National Parks
Robert Sterling Yard

British Dictionary definitions for drainage basin

drainage basin

drainage area

noun

another name for catchment area

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

drainage basin in Science

drainage basin

[drā′nĭj]

An area drained by a river system. A drainage basin includes all areas that gather precipitation water and direct it to a particular stream, stream system, lake, or other body of standing water.