impoundment

or im·pound·age

[im-pound-muh nt]

See more synonyms for impoundment on Thesaurus.com

noun

a body of water confined within an enclosure, as a reservoir.
the act of impounding: the impoundment of alien property.
the condition of being impounded.

Origin of impoundment

First recorded in 1655–65; impound + -ment

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for impoundment

bondage, imprisonment, slavery, incarceration, confinement, custody, enthrallment, duress, thralldom, constraint, restraint, jail, enslavement, entombment, servitude, limbo, serfdom, subjection, vassalage, committal

Examples from the Web for impoundment

Historical Examples of impoundment

Water conservation, water supply, flood and drainage control, and impoundment facilities.
Salona, Fairfax County, Virginia
Ellen Anderson
Preliminary observations on the presence of stream-inhabiting fishes in Tenkiller Reservoir, a new Oklahoma impoundment.
Fishes of Chautauqua, Cowley and Elk Counties, Kansas
Artie L. Metcalf
The primary recommendation is that studies be continued, to document changes that result from impoundment.
Fishes of the Big Blue River Basin, Kansas
W. L. Minckley
We impound water without knowing the effects of that impoundment on its quality.
The Nation's River
United States Department of the Interior

Word Origin and History for impoundment

n.

1660s; see impound + -ment.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper