watershed
[ waw-ter-shed, wot-er- ]
/ ˈwɔ tərˌʃɛd, ˈwɒt ər- /
noun
Chiefly British. the ridge or crest line dividing two drainage areas; water parting; divide.
the region or area drained by a river, stream, etc.; drainage area.
Architecture. wash(def 44).
an important point of division or transition between two phases, conditions, etc.: The treaty to ban war in space may prove to be one of history's great watersheds.
adjective
constituting a watershed: a watershed area; a watershed case.
RELATED CONTENT
RELATED WORDS
milestone, pot, bowl, pan, lagoon, valley, pool, tub, event, stage, crisis, milepost, gulf, bay, sag, hollow, ewer, concavity, sink, vessel
Nearby words
- waters, muddy,
- waters, territorial,
- watersaver,
- waterscape,
- waterscorpion,
- watershed infarction,
- waterside,
- watersider,
- watersport,
- waterspout
Origin of watershed
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for watershed
watershed
/ (ˈwɔːtəˌʃɛd) /
noun
the dividing line between two adjacent river systems, such as a ridge
an important period or factor that serves as a dividing line
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
watershed
"line separating waters flowing into different rivers," 1803, from water (n.1) + shed "ridge of high ground between two valleys or lower ground, a divide" in the topographical sense, perhaps from shed (v.) in its extended noun sense of "the part of the hair of the head" (14c.). A loan-translation of German Wasser-scheide. Figurative sense is attested from 1878. Meaning "ground of a river system" is from 1878.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
watershed
[ wô′tər-shĕd′ ]
n.
A ridge between two areas that directs drainage to either side.
The area of marginal blood flow at the extreme periphery of a vascular bed.
Ridges of the lumbar vertebrae and the pelvic brim formed in the abdominal cavity, which determine the direction in which a free effusion will gravitate when the body is supine.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
watershed
[ wô′tər-shĕd′ ]
A continuous ridge of high ground forming a divide between two different drainage basins or river systems.
The region enclosed by such a divide and draining into a river, river system, or other body of water.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
watershed
A ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river systems. On one side of a watershed, rivers and streams flow in one direction; on the other side they flow in another direction. Also, the area drained by a water system.
Note
By extension, a “watershed” is a critical point that serves as a dividing line: “The parties reached a watershed in the contract negotiations.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.