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
Because Aurora is not located near a major river or natural water body, nearly all of the water residents use begins as mountain snowpack, captured as runoff and transported from watersheds as far as 150 miles away.
—
Mike Coffman, Denver Post, 10 Feb. 2026
Low snowpack meant reduced runoff across major watersheds, influencing water availability for agriculture, cities, and ecosystems downstream.
—Spencer Wilson, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
River rafting and tubing can be more adventurous with fuller watersheds during these months, but the scenery blooms bright green and is more stunning than ever.
—Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 30 Jan. 2026
The problem is that gauges are unevenly distributed across the planet, and some of the places where better monitoring matters most — remote regions, fast-changing watersheds, politically complex borders — are often the hardest to measure consistently.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Under his leadership, the paper led a long and ultimately successful fight to end the rapacious practice of hydraulic mining that literally destroyed mountains and ruined Central Valley watersheds.
—Seán McMahon, Sacbee.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Protecting rivers within watersheds that provide drinking water will be well aligned with the public’s strong support for safeguarding clean water.
—Jeff Opperman, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
Citizens Energy now plans to ship up to 25 million gallons a day from the watersheds of Central Indiana, including Eagle Creek, to Lebanon to support industry in the tech park.
—Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 20 Jan. 2026
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
Mike Coffman, Denver Post, 10 Feb. 2026
Low snowpack meant reduced runoff across major watersheds, influencing water availability for agriculture, cities, and ecosystems downstream.
—Spencer Wilson, CBS News, 4 Feb. 2026
River rafting and tubing can be more adventurous with fuller watersheds during these months, but the scenery blooms bright green and is more stunning than ever.
—Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 30 Jan. 2026
The problem is that gauges are unevenly distributed across the planet, and some of the places where better monitoring matters most — remote regions, fast-changing watersheds, politically complex borders — are often the hardest to measure consistently.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Under his leadership, the paper led a long and ultimately successful fight to end the rapacious practice of hydraulic mining that literally destroyed mountains and ruined Central Valley watersheds.
—Seán McMahon, Sacbee.com, 23 Jan. 2026
Protecting rivers within watersheds that provide drinking water will be well aligned with the public’s strong support for safeguarding clean water.
—Jeff Opperman, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
Citizens Energy now plans to ship up to 25 million gallons a day from the watersheds of Central Indiana, including Eagle Creek, to Lebanon to support industry in the tech park.
—Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 20 Jan. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for watersheds
Noun
-
Public relationship milestones may arrive—engagements, breakups, or defining conversations that put love front and center.—
Christina Pérez,
Vogue,
16 Feb. 2026
-
Malaysia and Vietnam hit domestic production milestones last year and Indonesia, like Singapore, recently announced plans to expand current operations.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Montana only featured 149 mentions of romance for every 100,000 comments on hotels and 73 mentions of romance for every 100,000 comments on landmarks.—
Kristine Hansen,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Feb. 2026
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The site now contains more than 20,000 acres of historic sites and landmarks, attracting roughly 5 million visitors annually.—
Madison Dapcevich,
Outside,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The band has never sounded this melodic before; Wroth in particular brings a constant dynamism to his guitar solos, often layering two and reaching climaxes that refuse to collapse into just a flurry of notes, building off Phantom Slaughter’s keyboard melodies with a real sense of drama.—
Sam Goldner,
Pitchfork,
17 Feb. 2026
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There was plenty of raw energy in climaxes, sometimes too much for so supportive and reinforcing an acoustic as the Meyerson Symphony Center’s.—
Scott Cantrell,
Dallas Morning News,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Alternately desolate and joyful, serene and psychedelic, the record is part astral journey and part inner reckoning, intent on blowing the cobwebs out of illness and grief’s dustiest corners.—
Linnie Greene,
Pitchfork,
17 Feb. 2026
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Scuffles have been known to break out near the track — perhaps over money changing hands in unseen corners during each race.—
Camilla Wright,
semafor.com,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Watersheds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watersheds. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
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