water
Definition
The liquid that forms rivers, seas, and rain
To remember it
Picture the children standing in puddles of blue water, smiling and splashing. Think of how the water looks shiny and clear in their reflections.
Examples
- A1
Please bring a glass of water — I am very thirsty after the walk.
- A1
She waters her plants every two days — they look beautiful and healthy.
- A2
The river water was too polluted to swim in — there were warning signs along the bank.
- A2
About seventy percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water.
- B1
Water security — ensuring that sufficient, safe, and affordable water is available to all people — is one of the most pressing global challenges, with climate change altering precipitation patterns and snowpack, and growing populations and economic development increasing demand, creating water stress in many regions that is projected to worsen significantly over the coming decades.
- B1
The water cycle — the continuous movement of water through evaporation from the Earth's surface, condensation in the atmosphere, and precipitation back to the surface — is one of the most fundamental Earth systems, connecting oceans, atmosphere, land, and living things through the circulation of a resource that is essential for all known forms of life.
- B2
The governance of water resources — determining who has rights to water, how conflicting uses are prioritized, and how the costs of water management are distributed — is one of the most complex areas of environmental policy, involving legal frameworks of water rights that vary enormously across jurisdictions, the management of shared river systems across international boundaries, and the tension between water as a public good and water as a tradeable commodity.
- B2
The relationship between water and civilization — the dependence of complex societies on reliable water supplies for agriculture, manufacturing, and sanitation — has shaped the geography of human settlement throughout history, with the great river civilizations of antiquity (Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, China) demonstrating that the management of water resources was one of the first challenges that required complex social organization and state-level coordination.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Tags
