Phrase guide

river basin

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a river or series of rivers.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: geography, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the entire geographical area drained by a river and its tributaries; an area characterized by all runoff being conveyed to the same outlet

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • flood control in the Missouri basin

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: basin, watershed, drainage basin, catchment area, catchment basin, drainage area

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: geographical area, geographic area, geographical region, geographic region

Narrower terms: detention basin, retention basin

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Irish: abhantrach — river basin
  • Italian: bacino fluviale — river basin
  • Kannada: ಜಲಾನಯನ ಪ್ರದೇಶ (jalānayana pradēśa) — river basin
  • Kazakh: өзен алабы (özen alaby) — river basin
  • Lithuanian: upýnas — river basin
  • Malay: lembangan sungai — river basin
  • Norwegian Bokmål: elvebekken — river basin
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: elvebekken — river basin
  • Polish: zlewnia — river basin
  • Romanian: bazin fluvial — river basin
  • Slovene: porečje — river basin
  • Ukrainian: басейн рiчки (basejn ričky) — river basin