Catchment Meaning
/ˈkatʃmənt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAny structure or land feature which catches and holds water; the collection of such water.
nounA catchment area, or the people it serves.
Sentence Examples
They are pumping freshwater from the river catchment.
The hospital's catchment area is the hospital's city plus the 3 adjacent towns.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The lake collects water from its entire ____ area through streams and rainfall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The river's ____ area covers several hundred square miles of land city.
Word Origin & History
From catch + -ment.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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?"
— 1864 June 9, “[Minutes of Evidence.] Samuel H. Gael, Esq., Called in; and Examined”, in Report from the Select Committee on Sewage (Metropolis); together with the Proceedings of the Committee, Minutes of Evidence, Appendix and Index (Reports from Committees: Eleven Volumes; 10), volumes XIV (Session 4 February – 29 July 1864), [London]: [His Majesty's Stationery Office], →OCLC, page 132, column 1, paragraph 3191:
"[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?"
— 1889 May 19, “[Minutes of Evidence.] Mr. T. W. Russell”, in Report from the Select Committee on the Bann Drainage Bill; together with the Proceedings of the Committee, and Minutes of Evidence (Reports from Committees: Eight Volumes; 1), volumes IX (Session 21 February 1889 – 30 August 1889), London: Printed by Henry Hansard and Son; and published by Eyre and Spottiswoode, East Harding-street, London, E.C., and 32, Abingdon-street, Westminster, S.W.; Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, North Bridge; Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, and Co., 104, Grafton-street, →OCLC, pages 27, column 1, paragraphs 515 and 517:
"The catchment area is the slope of a great mountain range covered with fine forests, and there are many good reservoir sites."
— 1890, “Section XXII. Irrigating Works should not be Constructed by the General Government”, in Report of the Special Committee of the United States Senate on the Irrigation and Reclamation of Arid Lands. Report of Committee and Views of the Minority (United States Senate, 51st Congress, 1st session; report 928, part 1), Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 128:
"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."
— 1998, “Preface”, in Carol Kendall, Jeffrey J. McDonnell, editors, Isotope Tracers in Catchment Hydrology, Amsterdam: Elsevier, →ISBN, page vii:
"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."
— 2015 fall, Michael R. Walker, “Monumental Task”, in BYU Magazine, Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Mar 2017:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The lake collects water from its entire ____ area through streams and rainfall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The river's ____ area covers several hundred square miles of land city.