culvert
/ˈkʌlvət
/noun
A tunnel carrying a stream or open drain under a road or railway.The tanks, roads, culverts and lagoon opening have all suffered through the lack of maintenance....
- Aggravating the problems is a pair of culverts through Provincial Road 205, which have been set at the wrong level.
- These criminal acts will retard progress and push up costs of building the road as the demolished culverts will have to be replaced.
Synonyms
channel, conduit, watercourse, trough;
drain, gutter
verb [with object]
Channel (a stream or drain) through a culvert: we have asked for the river to be culverted (as adjective culverted) a culverted drain...
- Sprawl and malls are filling in the vacant lots and woodlands where we used to play; rivers and streams are culverted, channelized, and barren; and the coasts, lakesides, and mountains are spotted with trophy homes and locked gates.
- He made his report following a motion that the stream be culverted.
- Or it might have happened later, when the creek was culverted and the woods cut down to make way for subdivisions and shopping malls.
Origin
Late 18th century: of unknown origin.