watershed

watershed
/waw"teuhr shed', wot"euhr-/, n.
1. Chiefly Brit. the ridge or crest line dividing two drainage areas; water parting; divide.
2. the region or area drained by a river, stream, etc.; drainage area.
3. Archit. wash (def. 48).
4. an important point of division or transition between two phases, conditions, etc.: The treaty to ban war in space may prove to be one of history's great watersheds.
adj.
5. constituting a watershed: a watershed area; a watershed case.
[1795-1805; WATER + SHED2]

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Universalium. 2010.

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