What does "cataract" mean?
A (large) waterfall, specifically one flowing over the edge of a cliff.
Cataract
/ˈkætəɹækt/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A (large) waterfall, specifically one flowing over the edge of a cliff.
- Grammar: cataract is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: ablepsia, amaurosis, benightedness, blepharitis.
- Useful contrasts: calm pool, clear vision, small amount.
- Usage evidence: Six months ago I had an operation for the cataract in my right eye.
How to use "cataract"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "cataract" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
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- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "cataract" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "cataract" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
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3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 A (large) waterfall, specifically one flowing over the edge of a cliff.
"The cataracts on the Nile helped to compartment Upper Egypt."
- 2 Synonym of portcullis (“a gate in the form of a grating which is lowered into place at the gateway of a castle, a fort, etc.”); also, a window grating. obsolete, rare
"Others did fortifie and rampire their Walls, […] assured the Port-culleys, fasten'd the Herses, Sarasinesks and Cataracks, placed their Centries, and doubled their Patrouilee."
- 3 a large waterfall; violent rush of water over a precipice wordnet
- 4 A flood of water; specifically, steep rapids in a river. broadly
"[S]uch a violent ſtorme of raine vnburthened it ſelfe neere this place, and cauſed ſuch a ſudden Deluge and Cattaract, that a Carrauan of tvvo thouſand Camels periſht, and vvere caſt avvay by it."
- 5 A clouding of the lens in the eye leading to a decrease in vision. broadly
"[T]her is a Caratact which doth light vpon the eyes of a Hawke, whome we may tearme a ſuffuſion, a miſchiefe not ſafely remoued, and diuers times impoſſible to be recured, as namely whẽ [when] it is growen too thicke, and ouerlong hath bin ſuffered in the eye, without ſeeking remedie for it: […]"
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 an eye disease that involves the clouding or opacification of the natural lens of the eye wordnet
- 7 An overwhelming downpour or rush; a flood. figuratively
"His cataract of eloquence"
- 8 A clouding of the lens in the eye leading to a decrease in vision.; Something which obscures. broadly, figuratively
"Thoſe filmes vvhich darkened the eye of the mindes, are remoued, thoſe thicke Cataracts of earthly vanities are diſperſed and diſpelled, and a nevv light into a nevv heart infuſed."
- 9 A type of governor used in single-acting steam engines, where a flow of water through an opening regulates the stroke. historical
- 10 A tool used for breaking flax; a brake. broadly, obsolete
"Some modern Pantagruelists, to shun and avoid that manual Labour, which such a separating and partitional Work would of necessity require, employ certain Catarratick Instruments, […] and athwart those Cataracts they break and bruise to very Trash the woody parcels [of the fictional herb “pantagruelion”], thereby to preserve the better the Fibres, which are the precious and excellent parts."
- 11 Synonym of waterspout (“a whirlwind that forms over water”). also, figuratively, obsolete
"They ſay furthermore that in certeyne places of the ſea, they ſawe certeyne ſtremes of water which they caule ſpoutes faulynge owt of the ayer into the ſea: […] Sum phantaſie that theſe ſhulde bee the cataractes of heauen whiche were all opened at Noes fludde."
Verb
- 1 Of a river, etc.: to fall in the form of a waterfall. intransitive
"[N]o river should cataract larger than the Clyde."
- 2 To cause (something) to pour or rush like a waterfall. figuratively, rare, transitive
"My Poems have been reviewed. The Monthly has cataracted panegyric on me; the Critical cascaded it, and the Analytical dribbled it with civility."
Proper Noun
- 1 A suburb of Wollongong in the Wollondilly council area and the Wollongong council area, New South Wales, Australia.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
calm poolclear visionsmall amountstill water
Example
"Six months ago I had an operation for the cataract in my right eye."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "cataract"?
Common synonyms include: ablepsia, amaurosis, benightedness, blepharitis, blind side, blind spot.
How do you use "cataract" in a sentence?
Six months ago I had an operation for the cataract in my right eye.
How do you pronounce "cataract"?
Pronounced /ˈkætəɹækt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
PIE word *ḱóm The noun is derived from cataracts (noun (plural only)), from Late Middle English cataract, cataracta, cateract, cateracte (“floodgate of heaven”), from Old French cataracte (modern French cataracte), and from its etymon Latin cataracta (“floodgate; waterfall”), from Ancient Greek καταρ(ρ)άκτης (katar(rh)áktēs, “(noun) waterfall; (adjective) rushing downwards”), from καταρ(ρ)ᾱ́σσω (katar(rh)ā́ssō, “to pour down; to rush downwards”) + -της (-tēs, suffix forming nouns denoting a state of being). Καταρ(ρ)ᾱ́σσω (Katar(rh)ā́ssō) is derived either: * from κᾰτᾰ- (kătă-, prefix meaning ‘downwards’) + ἀρᾰ́σσω (arắssō, “to dash to pieces; to strike”) (further etymology unknown, possibly onomatopoeic) or ῥᾱ́σσω (rhā́ssō, “to dash; to strike”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wreh₂ǵʰ- (“to pound, strike”)); or * from καταρρηγνύναι (katarrhēgnúnai, “to break down”). The verb is derived from the noun.
Etymology 2
From Late Middle English cataract, cataracta, cateract, cateracte (“(medicine) clouding of the lens in the eye”), from Old French cataracte (“clouding of the lens in the eye”), and then either: * from its etymon Latin cataracta (“portcullis”) (in the sense of something blocking vision as a portcullis blocks a gateway), from Ancient Greek καταρ(ρ)άκτης (katar(rh)áktēs, “act of rushing down; portcullis”) (see further at etymology 1); or * from clāthrāta (in fenestra clāthrāta (“window grating”)), an inflected form of clāthrātus (“grated, latticed, clathrate”), from clāthrī (“grate, lattic”) + -ātus (suffix denoting possession of something, forming adjectives from nouns). Clāthrī is derived from Doric Greek κλᾳ̃θρα (klãithra), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kleh₂w- (“crook, hook; peg; to close something”).