hydrology

noun hy·drol·o·gy \ hī-ˈdrä-lə-jē \

|Updated on: 9 Jul 2018

Definition of hydrology

: a science dealing with the properties, distribution, and circulation of water on and below the earth's surface and in the atmosphere

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hydrologic

play \ˌhī-drə-ˈlä-jik\ or hydrological play \ˌhī-drə-ˈlä-ji-kəl\ adjective

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hydrologically

play \ˌhī-drə-ˈlä-ji-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

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hydrologist

play \hī-ˈdrä-lə-jist\ noun

See hydrology defined for kids

Recent Examples of hydrology from the Web

Desalination Adriana Bruggeman, a professor of hydrology and water management at the Cyprus Institute, a research organization, said no matter what civilians do to conserve water, there is simply not enough of the natural resource to fill the need.

— NBC News, "Cyprus turns off taps to farmers as fresh water levels drop," 22 June 2018
To be fair to Muñoz’s measurements, paleoflood hydrology on the Mississippi ain’t easy.

— adam rogers, WIRED, "Too Much Engineering Has Made Mississippi River Floods Worse," 4 Apr. 2018
That left planners on their own to navigate layers of bureaucracy and complicated hydrology modeling.

— jenny staletovich, miamiherald, "Vast reservoir is key to state Everglades plan. Federal concerns could derail it," 5 June 2018
But Défort said the company's mitigation plan was not sufficient, and in some cases the company's consultant declined to provide to the DNR information on soil and hydrology conditions on the plan to replace wetlands.

— lee bergquist, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Judge invalidates DNR permit for controversial Wisconsin sand processing plant," 4 May 2018
The judge wrote that the fact that the Commerce Department investigators on Ms. Chen’s case lacked hydrology expertise, as well as the fact that English is Ms. Chen’s second language, may have contributed to some confusion.

— kate o’keeffe, WSJ, "Judge Orders Commerce Department to Reinstate Chinese-American Hydrologist," 29 Apr. 2018
The survey is one of a number of projects and studies that have been underway since the 2016 flood, including a hydrology and hydraulic study that identified 18 possible stormwater projects, estimated to cost $85 million overall.

— kate magill, Columbia Flier, "For flood-prone Ellicott City, study lays out ideas to make buildings more ‘resilient’," 23 Mar. 2018
Frank said while the EPA doesn't see any fundamental change to the remedy, there should be some accounting for the hydrology of the site and how that might affect the Calumet neighborhood.

— craig lyons, chicagotribune.com, "East Chicago residents take issue with EPA cleanup cost projection," 16 Feb. 2018
Skiers harness their knowledge of friction and hydrology, and lugers push their aerodynamics chops to the limits.

— evelyn lamb, Smithsonian, "How Physics Keeps Figure Skaters Gracefully Aloft," 7 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hydrology.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.