noun · neutral
runoff
UK/ˈrʌnɒf/US/ˈrʌnɔːf/RUN·off
Band 6-7task2speakingtask1
Water (from rain or snow) that flows over land surface into rivers, lakes, or the sea, often carrying pollutants.
Examples
“After heavy rain, agricultural runoff flowed into the river.”
“Reducing urban runoff helps lower pollution in streams.”
“Stormwater runoff can overwhelm drainage systems.”
Band 8 sentence
“Poor land management increases agricultural runoff, which in turn causes eutrophication in downstream lakes.”
Collocations
- agricultural runoff
- stormwater runoff
- reduce runoff
Word family
runoff nounrun off phrasal verb
Common mistakes
run offs→runoff
run off the field→run off from the field
Say it for a higher band
5water flow→6surface water→7+runoff
Synonyms
surface flow
Easily confused
overflow
“The river overflowed its banks after the storm.”
Related words
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In Environment & Climate
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