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 planet's water cycle is becoming increasingly erratic, swinging between too little and too much, the United Nations warned Thursday, with an unprecedented El Nino expected to exacerbate the long-term trend.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2026

This setup allowed the team to evaluate how individual models handled water cycle physics and to compare the combined ensemble average with real-world climate observations.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 15, 2026

I had a very clear sense that I wanted the water cycle to kind of circulate through it as it were, and a sense that we are part of that water cycle.

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.

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