culvert en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈkʌlvə(ɹ)t/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Origin obscure, with a number of possible etymologies suggested: * a dialectal word, * a word related to the name of the now-forgotten inventor, * a derivation from French couvert (“covered”), although couvert is not used in this sense and the French translation of culvert is ponceau or buse de drainage, * a derivation from an unrecorded Dutch word, possibly *coul-vaart, a combination of Dutch coul-, from French couler (“to flow”), and Dutch vaart (“a trip by boat, a canal”).
Meanings
-
A channel crossing under a road or railway for the draining of water.
A raft of twigs stayed upon a stone, suddenly detached itself, and floated towards the culvert.
1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC, page 98:After she left, I ran away for a day, and hid myself, solitary, in a culvert under the railway lines.
1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, paperback edition, Virago Press, page 167:It was on the leisurely upswing when, 16 years after we bought our house, a woman driving a fancy S.U.V. jumped the culvert, plowed through the hedge, jumped the culvert again and sped off.
2024 July 15, Heidi Julavits, “I Put Up a Fence in Maine. Why Did It Cause Such a Fuss?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| culverts | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (39)
io ponto (channel for draining water) · fr ponceau (channel for draining water) · es tajea (channel for draining water) · nl zinker (channel for draining water) · sv vägtrumma (channel for draining water) · eo drenilo (channel for draining water) · he גִּשְׁרוֹן (channel for draining water) · fr buse (channel for draining water) · tl alkantarilya (channel for draining water) · de Düker (channel for draining water) · nb stikkrenne (channel for draining water) · tr menfez (channel for draining water) · sv kulvert (channel for draining water) · pl przepust (channel for draining water) · ru водопропускная труба (channel for draining water) · nl grondzijl (channel for draining water) · cs propustek (channel for draining water) · mi karawata (channel for draining water) · eo torentdrenilo (channel for draining water) · eo tunelponto (channel for draining water) · hu áteresz (channel for draining water) · ca desguàs (channel for draining water) · taa tu dodilenhde (channel for draining water) · pt passagem hidráulica (channel for draining water) · fi siltarumpu (channel for draining water) · vi cống (channel for draining water) · fr drain (channel for draining water) · sv trumma (channel for draining water) · io ponteto (channel for draining water) · grc κορχυρέα (channel for draining water) · nb kulvert (channel for draining water) · hi पुलिया (channel for draining water) · es cloaca (channel for draining water) · nl verlaat (channel for draining water) · bg водосток (channel for draining water) · ca claveguera (channel for draining water) · hu vízátvezető cső (channel for draining water) · pt galeria de drenagem (channel for draining water) · nl duiker (channel for draining water)