as in milestones
a point in a chain of events at which an important change (as in one's fortunes) occurs
a watershed moment in her life came when she inherited a reasonable sum of money and was able to start her own coffee shop
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Recent Examples of watersheds
The rainfall melted a significant amount of snow in mountain watersheds, which contributed to the flooding in Washington state.
—
Alejandro N. Flores, The Conversation, 8 Jan. 2026
The team installed beaver-style dams across the Cache la Poudre and Willow Creek watersheds — both burned in the 2020 wildfires — to help slow water flow and instead spread the water over a floodplain.
—Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 30 Dec. 2025
Their results suggest that early Mars was a patchwork of isolated watersheds, but that a small number of mega-basins acted as planetary conveyor belts, transporting nutrients and potential biosignatures across immense distances.
—Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 11 Dec. 2025
This newest land acquisition is part of a plan to create a 10,000-acre natural habitat corridor that runs from Folsom to Rancho Murieta and includes the Cosumnes and Deer Creek watersheds.
—James Taylor, CBS News, 19 Nov. 2025
How much water ultimately makes it into that system depends on snowmelt and rainfall on the Salt and Verde watersheds, which SRP is trying to track more accurately.
—Hayleigh Evans, AZCentral.com, 2 Oct. 2025
The village’s environment department is repairing treatment plants, restoring watersheds and working on accessing federal aid.
—Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2025
The new partnership between farmers and advocates will let agriculture prosper while protecting one of Indiana's largest watersheds.
—Karl Schneider, IndyStar, 25 Sep. 2025
Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino Quintero pledged to restore 250,000 acres of ecosystems, including mangroves and watersheds.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 25 Sep. 2025
Alejandro N. Flores, The Conversation, 8 Jan. 2026
The team installed beaver-style dams across the Cache la Poudre and Willow Creek watersheds — both burned in the 2020 wildfires — to help slow water flow and instead spread the water over a floodplain.
—Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 30 Dec. 2025
Their results suggest that early Mars was a patchwork of isolated watersheds, but that a small number of mega-basins acted as planetary conveyor belts, transporting nutrients and potential biosignatures across immense distances.
—Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 11 Dec. 2025
This newest land acquisition is part of a plan to create a 10,000-acre natural habitat corridor that runs from Folsom to Rancho Murieta and includes the Cosumnes and Deer Creek watersheds.
—James Taylor, CBS News, 19 Nov. 2025
How much water ultimately makes it into that system depends on snowmelt and rainfall on the Salt and Verde watersheds, which SRP is trying to track more accurately.
—Hayleigh Evans, AZCentral.com, 2 Oct. 2025
The village’s environment department is repairing treatment plants, restoring watersheds and working on accessing federal aid.
—Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2025
The new partnership between farmers and advocates will let agriculture prosper while protecting one of Indiana's largest watersheds.
—Karl Schneider, IndyStar, 25 Sep. 2025
Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino Quintero pledged to restore 250,000 acres of ecosystems, including mangroves and watersheds.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 25 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for watersheds
Noun
-
No payout unless extraordinary milestones are reached that would benefit all of Tesla’s owners and humanity at large.—
Shane Goodwin,
Fortune,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Turner has many exciting milestones to look forward to this year, both personally and professionally.—
Skyler Caruso,
PEOPLE,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Will MrBeast and Bella Poarch one day have landmarks dedicated to their legacies?—
Oren Peleg,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Nov. 2025
-
One of South Nashville’s longstanding cultural landmarks is poised for a sale in the coming weeks.—
Hadley Hitson,
Nashville Tennessean,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Thus a wonderful section on The Jew of Malta climaxes in an unfortunate vision of the text as a secret message to Lord Strange, a wealthy and important patron of the arts.—
Isaac Butler,
The Atlantic,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Audition is a slow burn, spending the better part of two hours setting up audiences for arguably one of the most graphic climaxes in horror history.—
Steven Thrash,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
His popularity in other corners was evident in an October appearance on The View, in which cohost Whoopi Goldberg had to reprimand the audience for shouting out too many supportive exclamations.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Jan. 2026
-
All that oomph is split between all four corners by a seven-speed dual-clutch S-Tronic gearbox.—
Bryan Hood,
Robb Report,
6 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Watersheds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watersheds. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
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