river basin

noun

, Physical Geography.

1. the area of land drained by a river and its branches.

river basin

1. The land area that is drained by a river and its tributaries. The Mississippi River basin, for example, is a vast area that covers much of the central United States from the central ranges of the Appalachian Mountains in the east to the eastern ranges of the Rocky Mountains in the west, funneling toward its delta in southern Louisiana and emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.

Word History and Origins

Origin of river basin¹

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

“There is going to be some precipitation over the next week, so that may tend to slow down the drought development, but for the season as a whole, by the end of January, we are expecting the drought to expand throughout the Four Corners region, including the Colorado River Basin,” said Brad Pugh, operational drought lead with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

From Los Angeles Times

Much of the Colorado River Basin is already abnormally dry or experiencing drought conditions, and meteorologists predict those conditions are likely to worsen with La Niña this winter.

From Los Angeles Times

The service forecast moderate to major river flooding in central Florida and the St. Johns River basin over the weekend and through the coming weeks.

From Los Angeles Times

“We know now,” Wilkerson said, “that the river basin downtown has a high groundwater table and a really granular type of soil, so there’s a zone in this downtown region where liquefaction is a potential.”

From Los Angeles Times

Of the more than one dozen glacial lake outburst incidents recorded in Nepal in the past 50 years, four have been in the Everest’s Dudhkosi river basin.

From BBC