English Explanatory Dictionary

wetback

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A Mexican or Central American who illegally enters the United States of America from its southern border.
  2. A person of the mestizo race; a mojado.

Pronunciation

wĕtbăk /ˈwɛtbæk/ En-au-wetback.ogg

Word forms

wetback wetbacks

Etymology

First used in the 1920s from the presumed effects of swimming or wading across the Rio Grande. Used by the U.S. Government in 1954 with Operation Wetback.

Synonyms

mojado

Related words

illegal alien illegal

Derived words

whiteback
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on W Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary