English Explanatory Dictionary

wet

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Made up of liquid or moisture, usually (but not always) water.
  2. Of an object, etc.: covered or impregnated with liquid, usually (but not always) water.
  3. Of a burrito, sandwich, or other food: covered in a sauce.
  4. Of calligraphy and fountain pens: depositing a large amount of ink from the nib or the feed.
  5. Of a sound recording: having had audio effects applied.
  6. Of weather or a time period: rainy.
  7. Using afterburners or water injection for increased engine thrust.
  8. Of a person: inexperienced in a profession or task; having the characteristics of a rookie.
  9. Sexually aroused and thus having the vulva moistened with vaginal secretions.
  10. Ineffectual, feeble, showing no strength of character.
  11. Permitting alcoholic beverages.
  12. Refreshed with liquor; drunk.
noun
  1. Liquid or moisture.
  2. Rainy weather.
  3. Rainy season. (often capitalized)
  4. A moderate Conservative; especially, one who opposed the hard-line policies of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
  5. An alcoholic drink.
  6. One who supports the consumption of alcohol and thus opposes Prohibition.
  7. A tyre for use in wet weather.
  8. A weak or sentimental person; a wimp or softie.
  9. Alternative form of wat (“stew or curry eaten in Ethiopia and Eritrea”).
verb
  1. To cover or impregnate with liquid.
  2. To make or become wet.
  3. To make (oneself, clothing, a bed, etc.) wet by accidental urination.
  4. To form an intermetallic bond between a solder and a metal substrate.
  5. To celebrate by drinking alcohol.
  6. To kill or seriously injure.
  7. Misspelling of whet.
phrase
  1. Acronym of write everything twice, a humorous backronym coined to serve as the antonym of DRY, punning on the opposition of wet and dry.
adj
  1. Of code, having the quality of adhering to the principle of WET; containing much repetition.

Pronunciation

/ˈwɛt/ [ˈwɛt] LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-wet.wav en-us-wet.ogg /ˈwet/ [ˈwet] en-au-wet.ogg

Word forms

wet wetter wettest wets wetting wetted

Etymology

From Middle English wet (“wet, moistened”), wett, wette, past participle of Middle English weten (“to wet”), from Old English wǣtan (“to wet, moisten, water”), from Proto-West Germanic *wātijan, from Proto-Germanic *wētijaną (“to wet, make wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water, wet”) (also the source of water). Cognate with Scots weit, wete (“to wet”), Saterland Frisian wäitje (“to wet; drench”), Icelandic væta (“to wet”). Compare also Middle English weet (“wet”), from Old English wǣt (“wet, moist, rainy”), from Proto-West Germanic *wāt, from Proto-Germanic *wētaz (“wet, moist”), related to Scots weit, weet, wat (“wet”), North Frisian wiat, weet, wäit (“wet”), Saterland Frisian wäit (“wet”), West Frisian wiet (“wet”), Middle Dutch wet (“wet, damp, watery”), Swedish and Norwegian våt (“wet”), Danish våd (“wet”), Faroese vátur (“wet”), Icelandic votur (“wet”).

Synonyms

bewatered damp drenched dripping drunk humid irriguous madid moist moisty overwatered plashy saturated soaked sodden soggy soppy spewy spongy squidgy thoan thone undried watered waterlogged watery wet wetter than an otter's pocket wiery wetting raining rainy green wet behind the ears horny feeble hopeless useless drip inebriated soused Adrian Quist adrip aled up all mops and brooms arseholed a sheet in the wind a sheet in the wind's eye bedrunken befuddled beliquored besotted besotten bevvied bibacious bibulous binned bingoed bladdered blasted

Antonyms

dry sunny

Related words

moist liquid

Derived words

adequately wet all wet angry as a wet hen bed-wet draw a wet sponge across the slate dripping wet feet wet get one's dick wet get one's feet wet get wet hanging wet bag heavy wet like a wet weekend mad as a wet hen miserable as a wet hen pass a wet sponge over the slate pea wet ridden hard and put away wet ride hard and put away wet ride someone hard and put them away wet rode hard and put up wet soaking wet sopping wet the cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet throw a wet blanket on water is wet way out of a wet paper bag wet-and-dry-bulb hygrometer wet and messy wet and messy fetishism wet and warm wet arm system wet bag wet bar wet bargain wet behind the ears wet beriberi wet-blanketry wet blanket wet-blanket wet bob wet boy wet brain wet break wet bulb wet-bulb wet bulbing wet bulb temperature wet-bulb temperature wet cell wet check wet chemical wet chemistry wet cough wet cupping wet dock wet dog shakes wet dream wet dress rehearsal wet edge time
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