Watershed

WORD OF THE DAY


watershed \ WAW-ter-shed \ noun
 
Definition
1a : a dividing ridge between drainage areas
1b : a region or area bounded peripherally by a divide and draining ultimately to a particular watercourse or body of water
2a : a crucial dividing point, line, or factor
2b: turning point


Examples
"This year marked a watershed for contemporary classical music in the city. No greater proof was the Ear Taxi Festival, a Chicago-centric marathon of new music performance that, for six heady days in October, brought together some 500 local musicians to present roughly 100 recent classical works...."
— John von Rhein, The Chicago Tribune, 22 Dec. 2016


"The Cienega Creek watershed contains some of the highest-quality riparian woodland, riverine and cienega wetland habitats in Arizona."
— Jennifer McIntosh, The Arizona Daily Star, 29 Jan. 2017


Did You Know?
Opinion on the literal geographic meaning of watershed is divided. On one side of the debate are those who think the word can only refer to a ridge of land separating rivers and streams flowing in one direction from those flowing in the opposite direction.
That's the term's original meaning, one probably borrowed in the translation of the German Wasserscheide. On the other side of the argument are those who think watershed can also apply to the area through which such divided water flows.
The latter sense is now far more common in America, but most Americans have apparently decided to leave the quarrel to geologists and geographers while they use the term in its figurative sense, "turning point."