catchment
/ˈkɛt͡ʃmənt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.02 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any structure or land feature which catches and holds water; the collection of such water.
noun
A catchment area, or the people it serves.
verb
To divide into catchment areas.
Example Sentences
- "Do you think that there ought to be some board or some authority for each catchment basin, which must be appointed with adequate powers to prevent the pollution of streams?"
- "[paragraph 515] Now let us come to this point: you are quite clear that serious evil exists in this union of navigation and drainage? […] [paragraph 517] And you are also clear that one obstacle is the taxation of the catchment area, and that it needs some plan to be devised for meeting it, although this plan may have defects?"
- "The catchment area is the slope of a great mountain range covered with fine forests, and there are many good reservoir sites."
- "Isotope hydrograph separations determined by simple conservative-mixing models have shown repeatedly, in a variety of climactic and hydrogeologic environments, that streamflow generated during rainfall or snowmelt is derived primarily from water stored in the catchment prior to the event, a surprising insight that has profoundly changed how hydrologists view the runoff process. […] Catchment hydrology is more than just the study of water, or rocks, or biota – it encompasses the physical and biogeochemical interactions that control the hydrology and biogeochemistry of the system."
- "Every mountain in Petra has carved water channels in the indigenous stone that catch the seasonal erosion floods. Every building seems to be positioned to maximize water catchment."
- "The Hospital Plan first set out the objective: a network of large district general hospitals, each providing specialised medical and surgical facilities for a catchment of 200,000 to 300,000 population[…]."
Etymology
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɛt͡ʃmənt/
- British English: /ˈkatʃmənt/