When your contractor mentions that your parking lot or roof has birdbaths, they do not refer to concrete statues that look like water features.
Like alligatoring, this is another colloquialism that is named after an animal reference. It is, by the way, synonymous with ponding.
According to the Construction Dictionary, 9th Edition © 2001 published by the Greater Phoenix, Arizona Chapter #98 of the National Association of Women in Construction birdbath is defined as follows:
a concavity in a pavement surface which holds water after a shower or rain.
Want to Know More?
- Of course, there is a Wikipedia entry.
- Rose Paving Blog | Awesomely Bad Pavement
- More of our vocabulary posts.