Meaning & use
drainage
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The process or system of removing extra water from land or from a building.
Grammar: Uncountable: good drainage, not a drainage.
Patterns
- good drainage
- poor drainage
- drainage system
The garden needs good drainage to prevent flooding.
Poor drainage in the field caused the crops to rot.
The city improved its drainage after the heavy rains.
noununcountable
The water or other liquid that is removed from an area.
Grammar: Uncountable: the drainage flows away.
Patterns
- drainage water
- collect drainage
- drainage flows
The drainage from the roof runs into a barrel.
Farmers use ditches to carry drainage away from the fields.
The drainage smells bad because it has been standing for days.
nouncountabletechnical
A system of pipes or channels that carries away waste water.
Grammar: Countable when referring to a particular system: a drainage.
Patterns
- a drainage system
- install drainage
- the drainage network
The new building has a modern drainage system.
Engineers designed the drainage to handle heavy storms.
The old drainage was replaced with larger pipes.
Common combinations
- drainage system
- A blocked drainage system can cause flooding.
- poor drainage
- Poor drainage makes the soil waterlogged.
- drainage ditch
- They dug a drainage ditch along the road.
- drainage basin
- The river's drainage basin covers several counties.
- drainage water
- Drainage water from the fields flows into the river.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sewerage
- Sewerage refers specifically to the system of sewers for carrying sewage, while drainage is a broader term for removing any unwanted water.
- irrigation
- Irrigation is about supplying water to land, the opposite of drainage, which removes excess water.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: drainage or drain?
drainage vs drain
Drain is a single pipe or the act of removing water; drainage is the whole system or process.
Practice
The garden has poor ______, so water collects after rain.
Choose one answer.
We say 'poor drainage' to talk about a system that does not remove water well. 'Drain' is a countable noun for a pipe, not used here. 'Draining' is a verb form and would need 'is draining'. 'Drained' is an adjective or past verb, not fitting after 'poor'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “drainage”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.