(a., pl. wāhāt ), oasis.

1. In the Middle East.

An oasis is a locality with access to water and cultivable soil in an area which is generally barren and parched. Perennial streams such as the Nile or Tigris-Euphrates, which flow from well-watered mountains through desert valleys, support continuous chains of oases. Other watercourses, which are seasonal, irregular or subterranean, can sometimes be tapped by wells to provide enough water for more isolated settlements, as at Tarīm and S̲h̲ibām [q.vv.] in the Wādī ¶ Ḥaḍramawt, and in the district of al-Ḳaṣīm [q.v.] on the Wādī Rumma in c…