culvert

Meaning

Noun

A channel crossing under a road or railway for the draining of water.

Verb

To channel (a stream of water) through a culvert.

Synonyms

drain

conduit

duct

gutter

offtake

pipe

raceway

run

scupper

subway

through

tray

watercourse

cable channel

cable conduit

pipe culvert

underfloor duct

cable trunk

duct run

culvert pipe

cable culvert

duct line

cable pipe

cable duct

·rocker

canal

Translations

alcantarilla

ponceau

Düker

mecra

buse

unterirdische Wasserleitung

Durchlass

Galeria de drenagem

Abzugskanal

Rinne

Mulde

Rutsche

unterirdischer Kanal

Abfluss

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkʌlvə(ɹ)t/

Etymology

Origin obscure, with a number of possible etymologies suggested:
* a dialectal word,
* a word related to the name of the now-forgotten inventor,
* a derivation from French couvert (“covered”), although couvert is not used in this sense and the French translation of culvert is ponceau or buse de drainage,
* a derivation from an unrecorded Dutch word, possibly *coul-vaart, a combination of Dutch coul-, from French couler (“to flow”), and Dutch vaart (“a trip by boat, a canal”).