catchment area

catchment area (plural catchment areas)

1. (hydrology) An area from which water drains into a particular lake, river, etc.; the catchment area of a large river includes its tributaries.

   Synonyms: catchment basin, drainage basin

2. The area served by a local institution, such as a hospital or school, or by extension, a railway station.
   • 2019 October, “Funding for 20tph East London Line service”, in Modern Railways, page 18:

     As well as the new station, the funding will allow the building of the Chelmsford North East bypass, enhancing access to and the catchment area of the station.

• “catchment area” in Colin McIntosh, editor, Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 4th edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, →ISBN; reproduced on the Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, retrieved 1 March 2017.
• “catchment area”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

• catchment area on Wikipedia.Wikipedia