water cycle
n.
The continuous process by which water is circulated throughout the earth and the atmosphere through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and the transpiration of plants and animals. Also called hydrologic cycle.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
water cycle
n
(Physical Geography) the circulation of the earth's water, in which water evaporates from the sea into the atmosphere, where it condenses and falls as rain or snow, returning to the sea by rivers or returning to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration. Also called: hydrologic cycle
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
water cycle
The continuous process by which water is distributed throughout the Earth and its atmosphere. Energy from the sun causes water to evaporate from oceans and other bodies of water and from soil surfaces. Plants and animals also add water vapor to the air by transpiration. As it rises into the atmosphere, the water vapor condenses to form clouds. Rain and other forms of precipitation return water to the Earth, where it flows into bodies of water and into the ground, beginning the cycle over again. Also called hydrologic cycle.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
water cycle
The circulation of water from sea to air and back again. This involves evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, and may include surface runoff, rivers, and glaciers.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited