watershed
noun/ˈwɔːtəʃed/
/ˈwɔːtərʃed/
- [countable] watershed (in something) an event or a period of time that marks an important change
- The middle decades of the 19th century marked a watershed in Russia's history.
Extra Examples- The 19th century marked a watershed between the country's agricultural past and its industrial future.
- The completion of this project was a watershed event in the company's history.
- The granting of the vote represented a watershed for the rights of women.
- With the strike, a historical watershed in the development of the trade union movement was reached.
- a watershed moment in recent music history
- a watershed year for Japan
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- historic
- important
- major
- …
- be
- mark
- represent
- …
- divide something
- moment
- event
- year
- …
- watershed between
- watershed for
- watershed in
- …
- [countable] a line of high land where streams on one side flow into one river, and streams on the other side flow into a different river
- the watershed[singular] (in the UK) the time before which programmes that are not considered suitable for children may not be shown on television
- the 9 o’clock watershed
Word Originearly 19th cent.: from water + shed in the sense ‘ridge of high ground’ (related to the verb shed), suggested by German Wasserscheide.
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watershed