water

Less common meanings

8. 8
   birth fluidnouncountable or uncountable

   The amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus, or the sac that contains it.

   Her water broke during the staff meeting, two weeks ahead of her due date.

   The midwife explained what to do once the water breaks.

   UsageSet phrase with break: her water broke, also her waters broke.

9. 9
   situationnounfigurativelycountable or uncountableplural

   A state of affairs or set of conditions, usually an adverse one indicated by an accompanying adjective.

   The senator has been in hot water ever since the leaked memo surfaced.

   After the merger fell through, the firm sailed into rough waters.

   UsageSet phrases: in hot water (in trouble), in deep water, rough waters, uncharted waters.

   Note

   The image keeps its sense of motion and passage. Rough waters of change are something to get through, with calm promised on the far side.

10. 10
    give a drinkverbtransitive

    To let animals drink, or supply them with drinking water.

    The riders stopped at the creek to water their horses.

    Ranch hands watered the cattle twice a day during the heat wave.

11. 11
    make weakerverbtransitive

    To dilute, especially by adding water.

    The tavern keeper was accused of watering the wine.

    Some vendors water their milk to stretch the supply.

    UsageUsually water down: water down the wine. Figuratively, a watered-down plan is a weaker one.

    Similardilute, thin, weaken, adulterate

12. 12
    swellingnouncolloquialcountable or uncountable

    Fluid that collects in the body's tissues or cavities, especially when it causes swelling.

    After the long flight, she was retaining water and her ankles were swollen.

    He had water on the knee after the fall and kept the leg elevated.

    UsageSet phrases: retain water, water on the knee.

    Similarfluid

    Note

    A lay word for a clinical matter. The medical subject is fluid collecting in tissue or a joint, and water is its colloquial name, fixed in phrases like water on the knee. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Fluid can accumulate in body tissues and cause swelling. cancer.gov
    • Excess fluid can accumulate in the knee joint; this condition is informally called water on the knee. en.wikipedia.org
13. 13
    mineral springnouncountable

    Mineral water from a natural spring, drunk plain or carbonated or used for bathing at a spa ('take the waters').

    Their best-selling water rises from a mineral spring in the Alps.

    Each region's waters carry a distinctive taste from the local rock.

14. 14
    nouncountable or uncountable

    The liquid H₂O regarded as one of the four classical elements, alongside earth, air, and fire, in ancient philosophy and alchemy.

    Greek philosophers held that water, together with earth, air, and fire, composed all matter.

    The alchemist's diagram placed water opposite fire among the four elements.

    Note

    Philosophy and alchemy treat water as a principle rather than as the everyday liquid: one of the basic elements from which other things were thought to be composed. Alchemists drew it as a downward-pointing triangle, and astrology still groups Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces as the water signs. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Water was one of the basic elements thought to compose other things. getty.edu
    • The alchemical symbol for water was a downward-pointing triangle. en.wikipedia.org
    • Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are classified as water signs in astrology. en.wikipedia.org
15. 15
    urinenouncountable or uncountable

    Urine, as a polite or indirect term, especially in phrases like 'pass water' and 'make water.'

    The physician examined the patient's water for signs of infection.

    Unable to pass water, the old man was taken to the hospital.

    Similarurine

    Note

    A discreet word that does its work inside set phrases. Besides passing and making water, a person can fail to hold their water, as a squire does in his sleep in George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings (1998). The phrases avoid naming the thing directly. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • A squire fails to hold his water while asleep in George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings. en.wiktionary.org
16. 16
    pee onverbcolloquialtransitive

    To urinate onto something or someone.

    Halfway through the hike, he slipped behind a boulder to water the bushes.

    The tomcat had watered the doorstep again, and the smell lingered for days.

    Similarpee, urinate

17. 17
    fillernouncolloquialfigurativelycountable or uncountable

    Something that dilutes, or that has the effect of watering things down.

    Similarfiller, padding, fluff

18. 18
    get a drinkverbintransitive

    To take in or obtain a supply of water, as a ship at port or animals at a stream.

    Steamships watered at stations along the river route.

    The cattle water at the pond each evening.

    Similardrink

    Note

    The supplying verb turned inward: a ship puts into port to water, taking on its own supply. Railway writing used the word for steam engines, paired with coal. W. McGowan Gradon's 1944 account of Forres has a locomotive “coaled and watered at Forres shed.” Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Railway writing used ‘water’ for locomotives, paired with ‘coal’; the quoted words include ‘coaled and watered at Forres shed.’ en.wiktionary.org
    • W. McGowan Gradon's account of Forres was published in 1944. en.wiktionary.org
19. 19
    gut feelingnouncolloquialfigurativelycountable or uncountable

    A person's intuition; chiefly heard in the phrase 'in one's water.'

    He felt it in his water that the deal would fall through.

    She knew in her water that the letter carried bad news.

    UsageBoth water and waters are heard: I feel it in my water, he felt it in his waters.

    Similargut, bones

    Note

    A gut feeling placed in the body, much like feeling something in one's bones.

20. 20
    nounarchaiccountable or uncountable

    A river, or occasionally a lake or reservoir, found chiefly in proper names such as Afton Water.

    Anglers lined the banks of Yarrow Water at dawn, hoping for trout.

    But ere he came to Clyde's water, fu' loud the wind did blaw.

    1865, William Allingham, editor

    Note

    An old countable use, in which “a water” is a single river or lake rather than a quantity of liquid. Tyndale's New Testament of 1526 brings travelers “vnto a certayne water.” Tennyson's “Morte d'Arthur” (1842) sets “a great water” beside the ocean, and Allingham's The Ballad Book (1864) has a rider come to “Clyde's water.” Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • An old countable use of water denotes an individual river or lake. dev.gutenberg.org
    • Tyndale's New Testament was first published in 1526. searcharchives.bl.uk
    • Tyndale's translation contains the quoted wording as part of the narrative of a journey. en.wiktionary.org
    • Tennyson's Morte d'Arthur was first published in 1842. en.wikisource.org
    • The poem places a great water on one side of the land and the ocean on the other. dev.gutenberg.org
    • The Ballad Book contains a passage in which a rider approaches Clyde's water. en.wiktionary.org
21. 21
    inflated valuenoundateduncountable

    Excess or inflated valuation in a company's securities, beyond what its underlying assets justify.

    Analysts warned that the railroad's stock was half water.

    the outstanding stock and bond obligations of the company were reduced from $34,000,000 to $24,000,000 by squeezing out the water.

    1920, “Says Stock 'Water' Didn't Affect Fare”, in New York Times

    Note

    Finance borrowed the picture of livestock watered to add weight before sale: value added without substance behind it. The Atlanta Constitution in 1902 reported objections to too much water being put into stock. The New York Times in 1920 described a company's obligations shrinking by squeezing out the water. The term is now dated, and the verb water stock names the act that puts the water there. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Wiktionary and Wikipedia derive watered stock from giving livestock water before sale to increase their apparent value by weight. en.wikipedia.org
    • Water represents valuation unsupported by underlying substance or assets. en.wikipedia.org
    • The cited article appeared on August 2, 1902, but attributed the objection to Iowa Governor Cummins; it does not establish the newspaper's own position. en.wiktionary.org
    • The New York Times in 1920 described company obligations being reduced by squeezing out water. en.wiktionary.org
    • To water stock means to introduce the excess valuation described by the noun. en.wiktionary.org
22. 22
    inflate sharesverbdatedtransitive

    To overvalue securities, especially by means of deceptive bookkeeping or accounting.

    Promoters would water a railroad's stock and then unload it on the public.

    such agencies would make it possible for the railroads to water stock and evade the law subjecting security issues to public regulation

    1930, “Calls Rail Holding Companies Threat”, in The Sun

    Similarinflate, overvalue

    Note

    Stock is what gets watered, and railroads are the offenders in view. The Sun in 1930 warned that holding companies would let them water stock and evade the law regulating security issues. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Stock watering was associated with railroads. gutenberg.org
    • The Sun published the warning in 1930 about railroad holding companies enabling stock watering and evasion of securities regulation. en.wiktionary.org
23. 23
    noun

    In gemstones, especially diamonds, the degree of clarity and luster a stone shows.

    And when she raised it to see what caused this agitation, she saw nothing—nothing but the vast solitary emerald which Queen Elizabeth had given her. And was that not enough? she asked. It was of the finest water.

    1928, Virginia Woolf, Orlando: A Biography
24. 24
    noun

    A wavy, lustrous pattern or decoration given to materials such as linen, silk, or metal.
25. 25
    verb

    To wet and press cloth between rollers so as to give it a lustrous appearance in wavy lines.