catchment vs dam

catchment

noun
  • A catchment area, or the people it serves. 

  • Any structure or land feature which catches and holds water; the collection of such water. 

verb
  • To divide into catchment areas. 

dam

noun
  • A reservoir. 

  • An obsolete Indian copper coin, equal to a fortieth of a rupee. 

  • A structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow or part of the flow, generally for purposes such as retaining or diverting some of the water or retarding the release of accumulated water to avoid abrupt flooding. 

  • A former coin of Nepal, 128 of which were worth one mohar. 

  • A device to prevent a tooth from getting wet during dental work, consisting of a rubber sheet held with a band. 

  • A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace. 

  • The water reservoir resulting from placing such a structure. 

  • Female parent, mother, generally regarding breeding of animals. 

  • A kind of crowned piece in the game of draughts. 

adj
  • Damn. 

intj
  • Damn. 

verb
  • To block the flow of water. 

How often have the words catchment and dam occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )