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
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
One of the state’s 19 collared wolves traveled quickly through a number of watersheds in that region, including near tribal land, according to a CPW news release.
—Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 28 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
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
One of the state’s 19 collared wolves traveled quickly through a number of watersheds in that region, including near tribal land, according to a CPW news release.
—Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 28 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
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Continue reading … AMERICAN CULTURE QUIZ – Test yourself on leading ladies and music milestones.—
,
FOXNews.com,
10 Feb. 2026
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There are plenty of box office milestones to attach to Timothée Chalamet’s name.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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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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
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Thus a wonderful section on The Jew of Malta climaxes in an unfortunate vision of the text as a secret message to Lord Strange, a wealthy and important patron of the arts.—
Isaac Butler,
The Atlantic,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Her waterline was filled with black liner, which melted into the corners of her eyes.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
10 Feb. 2026
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In fact, one shopper even credits it with improving sagging corners around the mouth and forehead creasing.—
Melanie Fincher,
Southern Living,
10 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Watersheds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/watersheds. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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