irrigation

[ir-i-gey-shuhn]

noun

1. the artificial application of water to land to assist in the production of crops.

2. Medicine/Medical.,  the flushing or washing out of anything with water or other liquid.

3. the state of being irrigated.

irrigation

1. Artificial provision of water to sustain growing plants.

Irrigation accounts for the greatest part of water usage in the western United States.

Other Word Forms

• irrigational adjective
• nonirrigation noun
• overirrigation noun
• preirrigation noun
• preirrigational adjective
• proirrigation adjective
• reirrigation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of irrigation¹

First recorded in 1605–15, irrigation is from the Latin word irrigātiōn- (stem of irrigātiō ). See irrigate, -ion

Example Sentences

The American Farm Bureau Federation says on its website that farmers can reduce water use by up to 40% by getting moisture directly to each plant through drip irrigation.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Water went toward irrigation and the lake for less than three weeks late this summer, and only a small portion of it, she added.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

The loss of that water resource has knock-on effects for all those who rely on glaciers - for irrigation, drinking, hydropower and even shipping traffic.

Read more on BBC

But after more than a decade of war, Syria's agricultural sector was already battered by economic collapse, destroyed irrigation systems, and mined fields.

Read more on BBC

They said an advanced irrigation system was how the lake would mainly be filled.

Read more on BBC