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watershed

   Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
wa·ter·shed  (wôtr-shd, wtr-)
n.
1. A ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river systems. Also called water parting.
2. The region draining into a river, river system, or other body of water.
3. A critical point that marks a division or a change of course; a turning point: "a watershed in modern American history, a time that ... forever changed American social attitudes" Robert Reinhold.

[Probably translation of German Wasserscheide : Wasser, water + Scheide, divide, parting.]

watershed
Noun
1. the dividing line between two adjacent river systems, such as a ridge
2. an important period or factor that serves as a dividing line: a watershed in history

watershed  (wôtr-shd)
1. A continuous ridge of high ground forming a divide between two different drainage basins or river systems.
2. The region enclosed by such a divide and draining into a river, river system, or other body of water.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.watershedwatershed - a ridge of land that separates two adjacent river systems
line - a spatial location defined by a real or imaginary unidimensional extent
continental divide - the watershed of a continent (especially the watershed of North America formed by a series of mountain ridges extending from Alaska to Mexico)
2.watershedwatershed - the entire geographical area drained by a river and its tributaries; an area characterized by all runoff being conveyed to the same outlet; "flood control in the Missouri basin"
detention basin - a storage site (such as a small reservoir) that delays the flow of water downstream
retention basin - a storage site similar to a detention basin but the water in storage is permanently obstructed from flowing downstream
3.watershedwatershed - an event marking a unique or important historical change of course or one on which important developments depend; "the agreement was a watershed in the history of both nations"
juncture, occasion - an event that occurs at a critical time; "at such junctures he always had an impulse to leave"; "it was needed only on special occasions"
Fall of Man - (Judeo-Christian mythology) when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, God punished them by driving them out of the Garden of Eden and into the world where they would be subject to sickness and pain and eventual death
road to Damascus - a sudden turning point in a person's life (similar to the sudden conversion of the Apostle Paul on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus of arrest Christians)
Translations
Spanish watershed [ˈwɔːtəʃɛd] n (GEO) → cuenca;
(fig) → momento crítico

French watershed [ˈwɔːtəʃɛd] n (Geo) → ligne f de partage des eaux (fig); moment m critique, point décisif
German watershed [ˈwɔːtəʃɛd] water n (Geog) → Wasserscheide f (fig); Wendepunkt m
Italian watershed [ˈwɔːtəʃɛd] n (GEO), (fig) → spartiacque m

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On the opposite slope of the watershed they came down into a level country where were great stretches of forest and many streams, and through these great stretches they ran steadily, hour after hour, the sun rising higher and the day growing warmer.
The creeks that drain that side the Klondike watershed are just as likely to have gold as the creeks that drain this side.
Grey Beaver had crossed the great watershed between Mackenzie and the Yukon in the late winter, and spent the spring in hunting among the western outlying spurs of the Rockies.
 
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