water cycle

British  

noun

1. Also called: hydrologic cycle.  the circulation of the earth's water, in which water evaporates from the sea into the atmosphere, where it condenses and falls as rain or snow, returning to the sea by rivers or returning to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration

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water cycle Scientific  

1. See hydrologic cycle

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

water cycle

The WMO stressed the importance of good data to map the developments in the water cycle, warning that significants gaps remained in hard-hit areas.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

However, as rainfall moves slowly through the water cycle, aquifers and groundwater stores have shown resilience, external throughout this current drought.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

“Because of climate change, it is impacting the way the water cycle is behaving.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2026

And the water cycle now is not just a geophysical but also a sort of moral and political and bodily phenomenon for us as humans.

From Salon ● May 28, 2025

For example, urban hydrology—precisely what happens to the water cycle during various kinds of development, and how it might be adjusted—is a relatively new branch of study and still needs much research.

From The Nation's River A report on the Potomac from the U.S. Department of the Interior by United States. Dept. of the Interior.