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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
wa·ter·shed    Audio Help   [waw-ter-shed, wot-er-] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.Chiefly British. the ridge or crest line dividing two drainage areas; water parting; divide.
2.the region or area drained by a river, stream, etc.; drainage area.
3.Architecture. wash (def. 44).
4.an important point of division or transition between two phases, conditions, etc.: The treaty to ban war in space may prove to be one of history's great watersheds.
–adjective
5.constituting a watershed: a watershed area; a watershed case.

[Origin: 1795–1805; water + shed2]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
watershed

To learn more about watershed visit Britannica.com

© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
wa·ter·shed    Audio Help   (wô'tər-shěd', wŏt'ər-)  Pronunciation Key 
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.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
watershed 
"line separating waters flowing into different rivers," 1803, from water + shed. A loan-translation of Ger. Wasser-scheide. Fig. sense is attested from 1878. Meaning "ground of a river system" is from 1878.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
watershed

noun
1. a ridge of land that separates two adjacent river systems 
2. 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" [syn: river basin
3. 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" [syn: landmark

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ˈwatershed noun
an area of high land from which rivers flow in different directions into different basins
Arabic: خَط تَقسيم المِياه
Chinese (Simplified): 分水岭
Chinese (Traditional): 分水嶺
Czech: vodní předěl
Danish: vandskel
Dutch: waterscheiding
Estonian: veelahe
Finnish: vedenjakaja
French: ligne de partage des eaux
German: die Wasserscheide
Greek: υδροκρίτης
Hungarian: vízválasztó
Icelandic: vatnaskil
Indonesian: mata air
Italian: spartiacque
Japanese: 分水界
Korean: 분수계, 분수령
Latvian: ūdensšķirtne
Lithuanian: vandenskyra
Norwegian: vannskille
Polish: dział wód
Portuguese (Brazil): divisor de águas
Portuguese (Portugal): bacia hidrográfica
Romanian: cumpăna apelor
Russian: водораздел
Slovak: rozvodie, vodný predel
Slovenian: razvodje
Spanish: divisoria de las aguas, cuenca
Swedish: vattendelare, avrinningsområde
Turkish: su bölümü çizgisi
See also: water-closet, water-colour, water-melon, water-skiing, waterborne, watercress, waterfall, waterfowl, waterfront, waterhole, watering-can, waterlily, waterlogged, waterproof, waters, watertight, waterway, waterwheel, waterworks, watery, hold water, in(to) deep water, water, water down, water level, water main, water vapour

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.
The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
watershed    Audio Help   (wô'tər-shěd')  Pronunciation Key 
  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.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
watershed

A ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river systems. On one side of a watershed, rivers and streams flow in one direction; on the other side they flow in another direction. Also, the area drained by a water system.

Note: By extension, a “watershed” is a critical point that serves as a dividing line: “The parties reached a watershed in the contract negotiations.”

[Chapter:] Earth Sciences


The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Watershed

Wa"ter*shed`\, n. [Cf. G. wasserscheide; wasser water + scheide a place where two things separate, fr. scheiden to separate.]

1. The whole region or extent of country which contributes to the supply of a river or lake.

2. The line of division between two adjacent rivers or lakes with respect to the flow of water by natural channels into them; the natural boundary of a basin.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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