THE WATER CYCLE VOCABULARY
“TOP DAWG” WORDS
cycle: a periodically repeated sequence of events; a series of events or
operations that repeat regularly in the same order.
water cycle: the cycle of processes by which water circulates between the
earth's oceans, atmosphere, and land, involving precipitation as rain and snow,
drainage in streams and rivers, and return to the atmosphere by evaporation
and transpiration.
evaporation: the act of changing a liquid into a vapor or gas.
transpiration: the loss of water vapor from a plant.
condensation: changing of a gas or vapor into a liquid.
precipitation: water released from clouds in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet,
snow, or hail.
fresh water: the water found in lakes, rivers, and underground deposits,
possessing little salt in contrast to the salt water of oceans and seas.
potable: safe to drink; drinkable
purification: being made pure, not mixed with anything else.
water vapor: water in a gaseous state.
OTHER WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WATER CYCLE
rain: moisture condensed from the atmosphere that falls visibly in separate
drops.
sleet: a form of precipitation consisting of ice pellets, often mixed with rain or
snow.
hail: pellets of frozen rain that fall in showers from cumulonimbus clouds.
snow: atmospheric water vapor frozen into ice crystals and falling in light white
flakes or lying on the ground as a white layer.
runoff: the draining away of water (or substances carried in it) from the surface
of an area of land, a building or structure, etc.
atmosphere: the envelope of gases surrounding the earth or another planet.
hydrology: the branch of science concerned with the properties of the earth's
water, especially its movement in relation to land.
hydrosphere: all the waters on the earth's surface, such as lakes and seas, and
sometimes including water over the earth's surface, such as clouds.
river: a large natural stream of water flowing in a channel to the sea, a lake, or
another such stream.
estuary: the tidal mouth of a large river, where the tide meets the stream.
aquifer: a body of permeable rock that can contain or transmit groundwater.
permeable: allowing liquids or gases to pass through it.