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catchment

American  
[kach-muhnt] / ˈkætʃ mənt /

noun

  1. the act of catching water.

  2. something for catching water, as a reservoir or basin.

  3. the water that is caught in such a catchment.


catchment British  
/ ˈkætʃmənt /

noun

  1. the act of catching or collecting water

  2. a structure in which water is collected

  3. the water so collected

  4. the intake of a school from one 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

Etymology

Origin of catchment

First recorded in 1840–50; catch + -ment

Vocabulary lists containing catchment

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Water voles use to be fairly common in the Hogsmill River catchment but the species, immortalised as Ratty in The Wind in the Willows, was "locally extinct" until 2025.

From BBC Aug. 14, 2026

Laura Nee, catchment officer for the South East Rivers Trust, said the non-native species "predate on about one animal per day".

From BBC Aug. 14, 2026

They say this project will help "understand how nature-based solutions" can be used to improve water management and make the Severn catchment resilient to future climate change.

From BBC Aug. 10, 2026

Herefordshire Council says the charter gives the River Wye a number of rights "intended to guide the long-term protection and recovery of the river and its catchment."

From BBC May 24, 2026

In Haiti, TB still killed more adults than any other disease, but no one in the catchment area had died from it since 1988.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

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