watershed
part of speech
noun (a watershed, watersheds)
meaning for a pupil
1) A watershed is a line of high land, such as a ridge, that divides two areas whose rivers flow in different directions. tree →
2) (US) A watershed is the whole area of land whose water drains into one river or lake. tree →
3) A watershed is an important moment when things change: a watershed in her life. tree →
4) (UK) The watershed is the time in the evening after which TV programmes for adults can be shown. tree →
sense in the lessons
In geography and science lessons about rivers and the water cycle: a watershed collects rain that flows into a river. In history and stories, a watershed moment is a turning point. In UK family life, children's TV should be watched before the watershed. Phrases: watershed moment, river watershed, before the watershed.
examples
- Rain falling on this side of the hills flows into a different river: the ridge is the watershed. tree →
- Everything that drains into the lake is its watershed. tree →
- Joining the team was a watershed in his life. tree →
- That film is shown after the watershed, so it's not for children. tree →
- We must keep our watershed clean to have clean water. tree →
- The discovery was a watershed moment in science. tree →
note
Plural: watersheds. The UK meaning (a dividing ridge) and the US meaning (the whole drainage area, UK «catchment» or «drainage basin») differ — a common confusion. «Watershed moment» = turning point.
In the corpora
- In the UK the watershed is 9 pm: programmes not suitable for children are not shown on ordinary TV channels before then.
- The line of high land between two basins is a watershed.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «watershed» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.