dam vs drainage basin

dam

noun
  • The water reservoir resulting from placing such a structure. 

  • 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. 

  • A reservoir. 

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

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

verb
  • To block the flow of water. 

intj
  • Damn. 

adj
  • Damn. 

drainage basin

noun
  • A topographic region in which all water drains to a common outlet; a watershed. 

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