A shallow troughlike depression that's created to carry water during rainstorms or snow melts; a drainage ditch.

This type of swale is created by digging a ditch on contour and piling the dirt on the downhill side of the ditch to create a berm. Swale definition is - a low-lying or depressed and often wet stretch of land; also : a shallow depression on a golf course. A low tract of moist or marshy land. Accessed 5 Nov. 2020. Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group, swallow (something) hook, line, and sinker.

Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible). [1] In particular, in US usage, it is a shallow channel with gently sloping sides. A swale is like a ditch but it’s broad and shallow, and usually covered or lined with turfgrass or other vegetation.

If your swale has a berm, this is a great place to plant flowers, trees or a vegetable garden. Define swale.

Therefore, a swale collects the water by being the lowest point in a given area and then is pitched to wherever you want the water to go. swale synonyms, swale pronunciation, swale translation, English dictionary definition of swale.

Swale (noun). However, it’s a lot more subtle in terms of its appearance in the landscape. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only.

In arid climates, vegetation (existing or planted) along the swale can benefit from the concentration of runoff. A swale in a lawn, landscaped or paved area is a long sloping low lying area intended to collect rain water and direct away it in one direction, for example towards a stream, a grade surface drain or a street curb inlet.

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! You can build a small swale yourself, but should hire a pro with earth-moving equipment for a long, wide one. A swale is a shady spot, or a sunken or marshy place.

Artificial swales are often infiltration basins, designed to manage water runoff, filter pollutants, and increase rainwater infiltration.

A swale is designed to collect rainwater on your property and the only way to do this without a pump is by gravity flow. Swale (noun). If not, you can plant along the sides of the swale to take advantage of soil moisture that will be present whenever the swale is performing its primary function of capturing and directing water. Trees and shrubs along the swale can provide shade and mulch which decrease evaporation.

[C16: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse. 2.
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Chambers Dictionary, Edinburgh, 1998, p. 1668. 'All Intensive Purposes' or 'All Intents and Purposes'?

A swale is a shady spot, or a sunken or marshy place. How to use a word that (literally) drives some pe... Do you know what languages these words come from?

A long narrow and shallow trough between ridges on a beach, running parallel to the coastline.

In particular, in US usage, it is a shallow channel with gently sloping sides.

The vintage trash is mostly gone now, but despite cleanup efforts, the waste continues to collect in stream beds, Streets lined with homes look like ghost towns, while parking lots and, On ‘Corps’ and ‘Core’ and ‘Corp’ (and ‘Corpse’). Figure out a way to keep water from flowing there, such as by extending gutter downspouts or by building a, Maslo and her team are softening the hard curvature of the, Upon impact, the Cobalt was propelled upright at a near 90-degree angle before falling onto a roadside. Here Be Dragons: A Creature Identification Quiz. [1575–85; perhaps identical with dial. A Swail is a Swale spelled incorrectly. As verbs the difference between ditch and swale is that ditch is or ditch can be to discard or abandon while swale is (melt and waste away, or singe). In this context it is usually a water-harvesting ditch on contour, also called a contour bund.[3][4].

A low tract of land, especially when moist or marshy.

Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors.

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'swale.' Like a trench drain, a swale is a surface water drainage device. Such a swale may be either natural or man-made. Creating a Swale.

'Nip it in the butt' or 'Nip it in the bud'?

Artificial swales are often infiltration basins, designed to manage water runoff, filter pollutants, and increase rainwater infiltration.


Consult a landscape contractor or a civil engineer if you live near a bluff, have a septic tank nearby, or are on a slope that drops more …

Learn a new word every day. Delivered to your inbox! n. 1. Trench Drain Vs. Swale. “Swale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swale. Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

[2], This swale concept has also been popularized as a rainwater harvesting and soil conservation strategy by Bill Mollison, Geoff Lawton, and other advocates of permaculture. Send us feedback.

Such a swale may be either natural or man-made. What made you want to look up swale? The term "swale" or "beach swale" is also used to describe long, narrow, usually shallow troughs between ridges or sandbars on a beach, that run parallel to the shoreline.[5]. Swales as used in permaculture are designed to slow and capture runoff by spreading it horizontally across the landscape (along an elevation contour line), facilitating runoff infiltration into the soil. producing ranker vegetation than the adjacent higher ground. 4 Solutions for stormwater: do you have a strategy to minimize flood damage and stormwater fees? This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for swale, Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about swale.