water cycle

noun

: hydrologic cycle

In the water cycle, water evaporates, condenses, falls as precipitation, and eventually evaporates again.

—Timothy Cooney et al.

As they have for thousands of years, the rhythms of wildlife migration and reproduction as well as human agriculture and grazing activities are inseparable from that of the yearly water cycle.

—Peter Warshall

… run by solar energy that helps cause winds, energizes plants, and powers the water cycle.

—David M. Armstrong et al.

Examples of water cycle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

According to Regeneration International, regenerative agriculture describes farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity - resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle. —Tom Hyland, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024

Focusing on how aerosols affect temperature, however, has distracted policymakers from the important and distinct effects that aerosols have on the water cycle. —Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2016

And warm temperatures earlier in the spring and later in the fall also disrupt the natural flow of Earth’s water cycle, changing the availability of water circulating between the oceans, ground and atmosphere. —Denise Chow, NBC News, 17 Oct. 2024

Disruptions to the water cycle are already causing suffering. —Laura Paddison, CNN, 16 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

water cycle

noun

: hydrologic cycle