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sewer system

sewer system

14 3.2
A system of underground pipes that carries dirty water from homes and streets
  • noun
  • /ˈsuːər ˈsɪstəm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : sistema de alcantarillado
  • At the end of the war, the city had no waterworks and no sewer system.
  • sanitary sewer system
  • combined sewer system
  • stormwater sewer system

It's sort of like a sewer system that clears out the debris that surrounds neurons, especially injured neurons.

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Examples

  • We need a schematic of the sewer system.

  • So if you have access to any of the sewer systems, you can get anywhere in the city you want.

  • But we're gonna need access to the sewer system.

  • Look in sewer systems if you have to.

  • How could the bodies have been found in the sewer system?

  • I found a section of an abandoned sewer system.

  • No wastewater treatment, let alone a sewer system, exists in the region.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Much like London, Paris was forced to redesign its sewer systems following a cholera outbreak.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The water can then be discharged directly into a sewer system, eliminating the need to have it hauled away.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The city is upgrading its sewer system to prevent flooding during heavy rains.

Synonyms

sewage system
vssewer system
  • NSFW
4 2.9

A network of pipes and drains that carries away dirty water from buildings and streets

focuses on pipes and channels rather than broader facilities
sewerage
vssewer system
  • Specialized
1 5.8

Pipes and drains, or the dirty water and waste they carry from buildings

describes only the network that carries wastewater rather than the waste itself

How Extensive

sewer system
  • Specialized
14 3.2
sewer
209 1.9
drain
122 1.0

Surface Forms

sewer system singular
sewer systems plural

Morphology

sewer + system

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'sewer' (underground pipes for carrying wastewater) with 'system' (a connected collection of components), yielding a network of pipes that carry sewage. This noun+noun compositional pattern is common and cross‑linguistically mirrored, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Sewer system comes from the simple image of many underground channels and pipes that carry away dirty water and waste from houses and streets. The word sewer named those drains and the word system shows they are all connected, so sewer system means 'a network of pipes that removes wastewater'.