watershed
Syllables: wa·ter·shedUK/ˈwɔːtəʃɛd//ˈwɔtɚʃɛd/
watershed noun: the topographical boundary dividing two adjacent catchment basins, such as a ridge or a crest.
Noun
watershed (plural watersheds)
- The topographical boundary dividing two adjacent catchment basins, such as a ridge or a crest.
- After Lesjaverk (23 miles) the eastern end of Lesjaskogsvatn is reached. This lake has the distinction of being a watershed. From the east end flows the Lågen, the great river that runs down Gudbrandsdal to Lake Mjøsa, while from the west end the Rauma River emerges to flow down to the Romsdalfjord.1956 September, M. D. Greville, “Through the Romsdal by Rail”, in Railway Magazine, page 594
- Synonyms:
- water parting, drainage divide, water divide, divide
- A region of land within which water flows down into a specified body, such as a river, lake, sea, or ocean; a drainage basin.
- Synonyms:
- catchment basin, catchment, catchment area, drainage area, river basin, water basin
- A critical point marking a change in course or development.
- watershed moment — watershed event — watershed ruling
- In the minds of many, 1847 was a watershed year during which Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, and Astraea were reclassified as asteroids.2009 [2007], David A. Weintraub, Is Pluto a Planet?: A Historical Journey through the Solar System, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 115
- Synonyms:
- turning point, crossroads
- The time of day after which material of a more adult nature (e.g., violence, swear words, or nudity) may be broadcast on television or radio, either one permitted by law or one contrived from convention (e.g. when children are not watching).
- Synonyms:
- safe harbor
Adjective
watershed (not comparable)
- Serving to mark a significant development, change in direction, etc.
- Green's Dictionary of Slang is a watershed publication in the annals of slang lexicography, being, beyond doubt, the most comprehensive scholarly dictionary of slang ever published.2018, James Lambert, “Anglo-Indian slang in dictionaries on historical principles”, in World Englishes, volume 37, page 251
- Synonyms:
- momentous, climacteric
watershed meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
watershed in Hindi
- watershed, drainage basin
- जलविभाजन jalvibhājan
watershed in Marathi
- जलविभाजक, पाणलोट प्रदेश
watershed in Urdu
- فاصل آب, پن دھارا, سنگ میل, بڑی تبدیلی
watershed in Bengali
- জলবিভাজিকা, সন্ধিক্ষণ, চরমমুহূর্ত
More languagesFewer languages
- watershed in Telugu
- వాటర్ షెడ్
- watershed in Malayalam
- നീർത്തടപ്രദേശം
- watershed in Kannada
- ಜಲವಿಭಾಗಕ, ಇಳಿಮೇಡು, ಜಲಾನಯನ ಭೂಮಿ, ಜಲವಿಭಾಜಕ ಸ್ಥಳ
- watershed in Punjabi
- ਵਾਟਰਸ਼ੈੱਡ, ਵਾਟਰਸ਼ੈਡ, ਵਾਟਰਸੈੱਡ
- watershed in Gujarati
- વોટરશેડ, જળવિભાજક
- watershed in Odia
- ଜଳବିଭାଜିକା
- watershed in Nepali
- वाटरशेड, वाटरसेड
- watershed in Malay
- legeh
Examples of watershed in a sentence
- The prospect of societal zero-Covid is seen as a watershed in Shanghai’s anti-pandemic work.
- The Chiaotou Incident and the Kaohsiung Incident were watershed events for Taiwan’s road to democratization.
- Generally speaking, the bluebelt is a stretch of watersheds that stretches along the edge of the Greenbelt.
Synonyms of watershed
- water parting
- drainage divide
- water divide
- divide
- catchment basin
- catchment
- catchment area
- drainage area
- river basin
- water basin
5 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of watershed
| plural | watersheds |
|---|
Origin of watershed
From water + shed. A calque of German Wasserscheide.
Words formed from watershed
Questions about watershed
- What does watershed mean?
- Watershed means the topographical boundary dividing two adjacent catchment basins, such as a ridge or a crest.
- What is watershed in Hindi?
- Watershed in Hindi is जलविभाजन (jalvibhājan). See Watershed meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is watershed?
- Watershed can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce watershed?
- Watershed is pronounced /ˈwɔːtəʃɛd/ (UK).
- What is the plural of watershed?
- The plural of watershed is watersheds.
Words near watershed in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: watershed (page history and authors); जलविभाजन (Hindi) (page history and authors); watershed (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); watershed (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); watershed (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); watershed (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); watershed (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); watershed (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); watershed (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); watershed (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); watershed (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); watershed (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-watershed.ogg.
Cite this entry: “watershed.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/watershed. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.