hydrologic cycle

noun

1. the natural sequence through which water passes into the atmosphere as water vapor, precipitates to earth in liquid or solid form, and ultimately returns to the atmosphere through evaporation.

hydrologic cycle

noun

1. another name for water cycle

hydrologic cycle

/ hī′drə-lŏj′ĭk /

1. The continuous process by which water is circulated throughout the Earth and its atmosphere. The Earth's water enters the atmosphere through evaporation from bodies of water and from ground surfaces. Plants and animals also add water vapor to the air by transpiration. As it rises into the atmosphere, the water vapor condenses to form clouds. Rain and other forms of precipitation return it to the Earth, where it flows into bodies of water and into the ground, beginning the cycle again.
2. Also called water cycle

hydrologic cycle

1. The continuous circular process in which the water of the Earth evaporates from the oceans, condenses, falls to the Earth as rain or snow, and eventually returns to the oceans through run-off in rivers or streams. Some water is absorbed by plants and returned to the atmosphere as vapor.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hydrologic cycle¹

First recorded in 1955–60; hydrolog(y) + -ic

Example Sentences

The Amazon rainforest also plays a vitally important role in the Earth's hydrologic cycle.

From Science Daily

Rorato says protecting forests on Indigenous territories is also key to preventing the Amazon forest from reaching a tipping point, where the loss of trees and changes to the hydrologic cycle convert wetter forests to dryer savanna.

From Science Magazine

But increasingly, California water regulators are struggling to manage supplies for 39 million residents, agriculture and the environment as climate change warps the hydrologic cycle and brings longer-lasting and more severe droughts.

From Los Angeles Times

Water circulates endlessly through the hydrologic cycle.

From Washington Post

Given that pollutants can infiltrate “waters of the United States” at any point in the hydrologic cycle, however, there is disagreement as to precisely where on the planet the federal government’s clean-water jurisdiction ends — because in a constitutional system, it has to end somewhere.

From Washington Post