irrigation

American  

[ir-i-gay-shuhn] / ˌɪr ɪˈgeɪ ʃən /

noun

• irrigations
  plural

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.

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irrigation Cultural  

1. Artificial provision of water to sustain growing plants.

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Discover More

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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• irrigations
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of irrigation

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

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Explanation

Irrigation is the watering of land to make it ready for agriculture. If you want to start a strawberry farm in the desert, irrigation will be necessary. Irrigation comes from the Latin for "moist" or "wet," but it means the purposeful wetting of something. We wouldn’t really say that a storm provides irrigation (unless we were poetically trying to personify the storm). Irrigation systems are often complex combinations of canals, channels, and hoses. The word irrigation is also used in medicine to describe the process of washing out a wound before dressing it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

irrigation irrigations

This has depleted reservoirs in Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, imperiling the many communities that depend on the river for drinking water and irrigation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced in the summer a package of support , externalmeasures including grant funding to construct reservoirs and irrigation infrastructure.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

If the colon irrigation and hypoxia training don’t chill me out, I have a feeling the long nature walks and lake swimming might.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Ahead of possible storms, farmers and managers of irrigation districts are discussing where they’ll put all the water if it comes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026

Despite constant maintenance, erosion silted up reservoirs, hurricanes destroyed terraces, and weeds and sediment choked irrigation networks.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

"I can go online and see what irrigations are needed down in Santa Barbara, 300 miles away," says Mr Maraden, who is based in Napa, north west of San Francisco.

From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2024

This is where nasal irrigations can be so helpful.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 28, 2022

“If you took all the people who say they have chronic sinusitis in the world, and you put them all on nasal saline irrigations, a big proportion would not have any symptoms anymore,” he said.

From New York Times ● May 12, 2011

Using satellite imagery between 1998 and 2002, Beman and colleagues discovered algae blooms up to 220 square miles large that followed just days after the periodic irrigations in the valley.

From Washington Post

If, in spite of the antiseptic irrigations, the fistula persists, then nothing remains but to resort to excision of the aponeurosis, as described on p.

From Diseases of the Horse's Foot by Harry Caulton Reeks

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