# wet

Pronunciation: US/AUS say "WET" /wɛt/; UK

## Adjective

1. Covered or soaked with water or another liquid, including food covered in sauce.
   - Simple: Covered with or soaked in water or another liquid.
   - _After the storm, the kids left their wet boots in a muddy pile by the back door._
   - _After he fell in the river, his clothes were completely wet._
2. Of weather or a stretch of time, marked by rain; rainy.
   - Simple: Having a lot of rain.
   - _The crops failed after an unusually wet spring._
   - _Forecasters warned that the weekend would be cold and wet._
3. Consisting of liquid or moisture, usually water but not always.
   - Simple: Made of liquid, such as water or another fluid.
   - _Mix the wet ingredients in one bowl, then slowly stir in the flour._
   - _Don't sit there. The varnish is still wet._
5. Done using water or other liquids or substances, as in an industrial process or laboratory work.
   - Simple: Done using water or other liquids, for example in a factory or lab.
   - _Wet scrubbing removes pollutants from factory exhaust by passing it through liquid._
   - _The plant relies on a wet cooling system that sprays water over the coils._
7. Sexually aroused, with the vulva moistened by vaginal secretions. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Sexually excited, so that the vagina becomes wet.
   - _She was wet long before they reached the bedroom._
   - _The sound of his voice alone was enough to make her wet._
11. Permitting alcoholic drinks to be sold or served.
   - Simple: Allowing the sale of alcohol.
   - _The referendum turned the once-dry county wet overnight._
   - _Tourists prefer the wet towns along the coast, where drinks flow freely._
14. Ineffectual and feeble; lacking strength of character. *(slang, British)*
   - Simple: Weak and unable to act with strength or courage.
   - _Critics called the new policy hopelessly wet._
   - _Her colleagues found him too wet to argue his case in meetings, so they stopped asking for his views._
15. Of a sound recording or signal, having had audio effects such as reverb or delay applied to it.
   - Simple: Used about recorded sound that has effects like echo added to it.
   - _The singer asked for a wetter vocal sound, so the engineer added more reverb to the chorus._
   - _A wet vocal can sit nicely in a ballad but muddy a fast mix._
16. Of a person, lacking experience in a job or task, used almost only in the phrase wet behind the ears. *(slang)*
   - Simple: New to something and without much experience, used mostly in the phrase wet behind the ears.
   - _When she took over the restaurant, she was still wet behind the ears, but she learned quickly from the older cooks._
   - _The coach eased the rookie in with a few easy games, since he was still a little wet behind the ears._
19. Of an operation or task: involving assassination or violent killing. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Involving killing someone, especially as a secret job.
   - _The handler hinted the assignment was wet and required absolute deniability._
   - _Veterans of the wet side of intelligence rarely discussed their assignments._

## Verb

4. To make something wet, or to become wet.
   - Simple: To make something wet, or to turn wet.
   - _Within an hour, my cheap jacket began to wet through at the shoulders._
   - _Wet the cloth with warm water before you wipe the baby's face._
6. To make oneself, one's clothing, or a bed wet through accidental urination.
   - Simple: To make yourself, your clothes, or a bed wet by urinating by accident.
   - _The child wet the bed twice during the thunderstorm._
   - _Young puppies sometimes wet the floor when they get excited._
18. To celebrate an event by drinking alcohol. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To celebrate something by having alcoholic drinks.
   - _The new father and his friends were wetting the baby's head at the local pub until closing time._
   - _Once the baby was home, the new father met his old friends at the bar to wet the baby's head._
20. To kill a person or inflict serious injury on them. *(dialectal, Multicultural London English, US)*
   - Simple: To kill someone or hurt them very badly.
   - _The crew was hired to wet a rival dealer before dawn._
   - _Word spread that the boss wanted them to wet the informant._

## Noun

9. Liquid or moisture.
   - Simple: Any liquid or dampness on or in something.
   - _Rain had leaked in overnight, leaving a wide patch of wet on the hallway carpet._
   - _The wet seeped through the bottom of the cardboard box._
10. Weather characterized by rain.
   - Simple: Rainy weather, or a time when it rains a lot.
   - _Bring your coat, because we'll be walking home in the wet._
   - _The hikers pulled on their ponchos and kept walking through the wet, hoping the clouds would clear by noon._
8. The annual season of heavy rain. *(Australia)*
   - Simple: The time of year when it rains a lot.
   - _Travel becomes difficult across the north during the Wet._
   - _They stock up on supplies before the wet sets in._
12. Someone who supports allowing alcohol and therefore opposes laws banning it, especially Prohibition. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: A person who is against banning alcohol and thinks people should be allowed to drink.
   - _In the 1920s, wets and drys clashed bitterly over the future of the saloon._
   - _He campaigned as a wet, promising to overturn the dry laws._
13. A weak or overly sentimental person; a wimp. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A weak or soft person who cries or gives up too easily.
   - _His teammates dismissed him as a wet who folded under pressure._
   - _Stop being a wet and stand up for what you believe._
17. A drink that contains alcohol. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: An alcoholic drink, like a beer or a glass of wine.
21. A moderate member of Britain's Conservative Party, especially one who opposed the hard-line policies of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. *(British, UK)*
   - Simple: A moderate British Conservative thought to be too soft, especially one who opposed Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
   - _Thatcher's cabinet wets pressed for a slower pace of economic reform._
   - _Critics on the right sneered that he was nothing but a wet._

## Adjective

22. Cheered or intoxicated by liquor; drunk. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Drunk after having too much alcohol to drink.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A tire designed for use on a wet track in rainy weather.
- (adjective) Of a poker board or flop, arranged so that many strong hands, such as straights and flushes, become possible.
- (adjective) Of a fountain pen or nib: laying down a large amount of ink as it writes.
- (adjective) Of a jet engine or its operation: using afterburners or water injection to increase thrust.
- (adjective) Provided with its usual full measure or completion; potent and at full strength.
- (adjective) Of a Quaker, relaxed about strict religious practices and customs.
- (noun) Another spelling of wat, a spiced stew from Ethiopia and Eritrea, usually eaten with injera.
- (verb) Of solder, to bond with a metal surface by forming an intermetallic layer with it.

## Origin

From Middle English wet, the past participle of weten ("to wet"), from Old English wǣtan ("to wet, moisten"), tracing back through Proto-Germanic to the Proto-Indo-European root *wed- ("water, wet"), which also gives us "water." It is related to a separate Middle English adjective weet ("wet"), with cognates in Frisian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish and Icelandic.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/wet (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).