river basin

American  

noun

Physical Geography.

1. the area of land drained by a river and its branches.

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river basin Scientific  

1. The land area that is drained by a river and its tributaries. The Mississippi River basin, for example, is a vast area that covers much of the central United States from the central ranges of the Appalachian Mountains in the east to the eastern ranges of the Rocky Mountains in the west, funneling toward its delta in southern Louisiana and emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.

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Etymology

Origin of river basin

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

river basin

North Wales and the Upper Severn river basin entered drought conditions last week, Natural Resources Wales said.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

They say "Yana" - who has been named after the river basin where she was discovered - is the world's best-preserved mammoth carcass.

From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2024

“We know now,” Wilkerson said, “that the river basin downtown has a high groundwater table and a really granular type of soil, so there’s a zone in this downtown region where liquefaction is a potential.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2024

The trailhead starts at San Pascual Stables and journeys along the concrete river basin, with a few short trails that veer off from the main path.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2024

Planting their orchards for millennia, the first Amazonians slowly transformed large swaths of the river basin into something more pleasing to human beings.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann