Meaning & use
hydroelectric dam
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A large wall built across a river to hold back water, which is then released to turn machines that make electricity.
Grammar: Countable: one dam, two dams. Often used with 'build', 'construct', or 'operate'.
Patterns
- build a hydroelectric dam
- a hydroelectric dam on a river
- the hydroelectric dam generates electricity
The country built a huge hydroelectric dam to supply power to nearby cities.
Fish cannot swim past the hydroelectric dam, so special paths were added.
Engineers inspected the hydroelectric dam after the heavy rains.
Word forms
| plural | hydroelectric dams |
|---|
Common combinations
- build a hydroelectric dam
- The government plans to build a hydroelectric dam on the upper river.
- hydroelectric dam project
- The hydroelectric dam project created thousands of jobs.
- large-scale hydroelectric dam
- Large-scale hydroelectric dams can change the flow of a whole river.
- operate a hydroelectric dam
- Only trained staff are allowed to operate the hydroelectric dam.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dam
- A general word for any barrier across water; a hydroelectric dam specifically produces electricity.
- power station
- A building where electricity is made; a hydroelectric dam is one type of power station that uses water.
Word family
- hydroelectricity noun
- Electricity produced by water power.
- hydroelectric adjective
- Relating to electricity made from water.
- hydropower noun
- Energy from moving water, often used to make electricity.
Commonly confused: hydroelectric dam or hydroelectric power?
hydroelectric dam vs hydroelectric power
This is the electricity itself, not the structure. You build a dam to produce power.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'hydroelectric dam' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A hydroelectric dam is a structure that uses water to make electricity, so option A fits. Option B is wrong because it is not a wind turbine; option C is wrong because dams are not for swimming; option D is wrong because dams store water, not solar energy.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hydroelectric dam”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.