water meadow

See also: watermeadow and water-meadow

English

Noun

water meadow (plural water meadows)

  2. (technical) An area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation or flooding in order to increase agricultural productivity.
    Hypernym: meadow
    Coordinate terms: flood meadow, callow
  4. A low-lying area of grassland, such as that by a river, which is subject to seasonal flooding.
    Synonyms: flood meadow, callow (Ireland)
    Hypernym: meadow
    Near-synonyms: fen, slough, marsh, swamp, bog, mire, moor
    • 1967, J. A. Baker, The Peregrine, page 41:
      He was too vivid a mark, as he dazzled slowly across the green water-meadows.

Usage notes

In technical usage, a distinction is made between water-meadows and flood meadows or floodplain meadows. Flood meadows are naturally subject to seasonal flooding from a river,[1] whereas water meadows are artificially created and maintained, with flooding controlled[2] on a seasonal or even daily basis.

In lay usage, however, water-meadow may be used more loosely to mean any level grassland beside a river.

Translations

References

  1. ^ Huhta, Ari‐Pekka; Rautio, Pasi (2014), “Flood meadows in Finland - their development during the past century”, in Nordic Journal of Botany, volume 32, number 6, pages 858–70
  2. ^ Emma Rothero, Sophie Lake, David Gowing, editors (2016), “Floodplain Meadows Partnership”, in Floodplain Meadows – Beauty and Utility: A Technical Handbook‎[1], archived from the original on 24 December 2022
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