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”).
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A channel crossing under a road or railway for the draining of water.
A raft of twigs stayed upon a stone, suddenly detached itself, and floated towards the culvert.1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC, page 98:
After she left, I ran away for a day, and hid myself, solitary, in a culvert under the railway lines.1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, paperback edition, Virago Press, page 167:
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It was on the leisurely upswing when, 16 years after we bought our house, a woman driving a fancy S.U.V. jumped the culvert, plowed through the hedge, jumped the culvert again and sped off.2024 July 15, Heidi Julavits, “I Put Up a Fence in Maine. Why Did It Cause Such a Fuss?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
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”).
1
To channel (a stream of water) through a culvert.
This led to a great deal of straightening and culverting, which in turn led to a massive loss of biodiversity.2020, Ben Aaronovitch, False Value, Gollancz, pages 234–235: