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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

"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

water cycle Scientific  

Example Sentences

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

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 15, 2026

“The rapid water cycle change that the planet has experienced over the last decade has unleashed a wave of rapid drying.”

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 3, 2025

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

As a result, the natural water cycle is sped up and intensified.

From BBC May 27, 2025

To the thousands upon thousands of trained hydrologists, meteorologists and agronomists of the federal agencies of agriculture, interior and commerce fell the task of manipulating and guiding the delicate balance of the world's water cycle.

From The Thirst Quenchers by Raphael, Rick

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