Meaning & use
hydrologist
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountabletechnical
A scientist who studies how water moves, is stored, and is distributed on Earth.
Grammar: Countable: a hydrologist, two hydrologists; often followed by 'who studies...' or 'for the government'.
Patterns
- a hydrologist studies something
- work as a hydrologist
- consult a hydrologist
The hydrologist measured how quickly the river rose after the storm.
She trained as a hydrologist and now advises the city on its water supply.
A team of hydrologists mapped the underground aquifer last summer.
Word forms
| plural | hydrologists |
|---|
Common combinations
- a hydrologist studies
- A hydrologist studies how rainfall reaches underground stores.
- work as a hydrologist
- He worked as a hydrologist for a national research institute.
- consult a hydrologist
- Before building the dam, the company consulted a hydrologist.
- a hydrologist warns
- The hydrologist warned that the wells could run dry within a decade.
- a government hydrologist
- A government hydrologist checked the flood defenses.
Synonyms and how they differ
- water scientist
- A looser everyday term; it covers anyone working with water, while 'hydrologist' refers to a specific trained specialist.
- hydrographer
- This specialist measures and charts bodies of water, especially for navigation; a hydrologist focuses on the water cycle itself.
Word family
- hydrology noun
- The scientific study of water and its movement.
- hydrological adjective
- Relating to the study of water, as in 'hydrological survey'.
- hydrologically adverb
- In a way that relates to the study of water.
Commonly confused: hydrologist or hydrogeologist? hydrologist or meteorologist?
hydrologist vs hydrogeologist
A hydrogeologist focuses on groundwater and the rocks that hold it, while a hydrologist studies water more broadly, including rivers and rainfall.
hydrologist vs meteorologist
A meteorologist studies weather and the atmosphere; a hydrologist studies water on and under the ground.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses 'hydrologist' correctly.
Choose one answer.
A hydrologist is a scientist who studies water, so studying river flow fits. The other options describe a plumber, a novelist, and a doctor, none of which is a hydrologist.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hydrologist”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.