catchment basin
- noun
- /ˈkæʧmənt ˈbeɪsən/
- Specialized
:
cuenca de captación
- Farmers in the region rely on a catchment basin to collect rainwater for irrigation.
Examples
-
My earthquake kit consists of a Bowie-type knife, a small shovel, a bottle of water, and a water catchment basin.
Blog text (10) -
Two-thirds of the island's limited land surface has been transformed into a rain catchment basin by canalizing and/or damming all major rivers.
Academic text (2016) -
I should say we can look at solutions: seagates, soft and hard edges, new regulations and zoning codes, maybe porous streets with catchment basins, waterproof vaults for power equipment on the streets.
Blog text (30) -
The city designed the new park with a large catchment basin to manage stormwater runoff.
-
After the storm, the catchment basin filled up quickly, helping to prevent flooding in nearby areas.
Synonyms
72
3.1
An area of land where water collects and flows into a river, lake, or sea
16
6.1
An area of land where rain flows into one river
3
6.4
An area of land that collects rain and sends water into a river or reservoir
1
5.6
An area of land where rain and water flow into the same river, lake, or reservoir
1
3.5
Land where a river and its streams send water to the same place
1
4.0
A large area of land where all the rain and rivers flow into the same river or sea
1
3.7
Area of land that sends water into a river or lake
How Large
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning of 'catchment basin' is directly compositional: both 'catchment' (a region where water gathers) and 'basin' (an area where water drains) describe the same hydrological function, so a learner who knows both words can infer the combined meaning. This is a transparent, descriptive term with clear cross-linguistic parallels in many languages, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows the constituents.
Etymology
Catchment basin comes from the simple picture of land shaped like a bowl where rain is 'caught' and the basin holds water until it flows out to a stream or lake. That's why the term means 'an area where all the rain and other water goes to the same river or lake'.