IRRIGATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does irrigation mean? 

• IRRIGATION (noun)
  The noun IRRIGATION has 2 senses:

1. supplying dry land with water by means of ditches etc

2. (medicine) cleaning a wound or body organ by flushing or washing out with water or a medicated solution

  Familiarity information: IRRIGATION used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IRRIGATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Supplying dry land with water by means of ditches etc

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("irrigation" is a kind of...):

provision; supply; supplying (the activity of supplying or providing something)

Derivation:

irrigate (supply with water, as with channels or ditches or streams)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(medicine) cleaning a wound or body organ by flushing or washing out with water or a medicated solution

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("irrigation" is a kind of...):

medical aid; medical care (professional treatment for illness or injury)

Domain category:

medical specialty; medicine (the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "irrigation"):

eye-drop; eyedrop (a method of irrigating the eye used by ophthalmologists)

douche (irrigation with a jet of water or medicated solution into or around a body part (especially the vagina) to treat infections or cleanse from odorous contents)

clyster; enema (an injection of a liquid through the anus to stimulate evacuation; sometimes used for diagnostic purposes)

lavage (washing out a hollow organ (especially the stomach) by flushing with water)

Derivation:

irrigate (supply with a constant flow or sprinkling of some liquid, for the purpose of cooling, cleansing, or disinfecting)

 Context examples 

For the third part of the experiment, the researchers grew the grafted and original plants outdoors in one normal field and one with salt and irrigation problems.

(Grafting helps pepper plants deal with drought, SciDev.Net)

Route of drug administration through the irrigation of organs pertaining to the genital and urinary systems.

(Genitourinary Route of Administration, NCI Thesaurus)

The material also provides benefits for irrigation.

(New Brazilian fertilizer can boost productivity, Agência BRASIL)

In Sierra Nevada, water is sown and harvested by means of the so-called acequias (irrigation channels) de careo.

(Researchers demonstrate that Sierra Nevada is home to the oldest underground water recharge system in Europe, University of Granada)

A solution intended for irrigation of the eye.

(Ophthalmic Irrigation Solution Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

A home-made filter system using layers of soil and gravel cleans domestic waste water well enough to make it suitable for irrigation, a research team in Morocco has found.

(Soil-based filter bricks clean up water for Moroccan farmers, SciDev.Net)

Upon ocular administration in irrigation solution, glutathione disulfide may exert a beneficial effect on the intracellular redox state of glutathione, thereby protecting the integrity and barrier function of the corneal endothelial cells.

(Oxiglutatione, NCI Thesaurus)

Human activity can pollute groundwater particularly in the shallowest few hundred metres where it is relied upon for water supply and irrigation.

(Modern pollutants can reach deep fossil aquifers, SciDev.Net)

The Sonoran and Tonto people eventually would have had difficulty finding new farming opportunities for many children, since corn farming required irrigation.

(Scientists chart a baby boom in southwestern Native Americans from 500 to 1300 A.D., NSF)

These changes would be particularly beneficial in the developing world, where better irrigation technology, water storage, and education would make a big difference to agricultural yield and reduce loss from draught.

(Model shows pathway to feeding the world, SciDev.Net)