water
1554
WATER, in deep water (DEEP¹), of the first water (FIRST¹),
hold water (HOLD¹), pour cold water on (POUR)
water² v 1 [T] to pour water on (an area of land or a plant):
It's very dry; we must water the garden/the roses. 2 [I] (espe-
cially of the eyes or mouth) to form or let out water or watery
liquid, especially tears or SALIVA: My eyes watered when I cut
up the onions. | The delicious cooking smells made my mouth
water. → see also MOUTH-WATERING 3 [T] to supply (espe-
cially an animal) with water to drink: Have the horses been
fed and watered? 4 [T often pass.] tech (especially of a river) to
flow through (an area) and provide it with water: Colombia
is watered by the Magdalena, Atrato, San Juan, and other
rivers.
water sthg. ⇔ down phr v [T often pass.] often derog 1 to
weaken (a liquid) by adding water; DILUTE: Waiter, this wine
has been watered down! 2 to make (a statement, report etc)
weaker or less forceful, especially by removing anything that
might cause offence or opposition: I've watered down the
report's conclusions so as not to alarm the directors. → see
also WATERED-DOWN
'Water Babies, The (1863) a book for children by Charles
KINGSLEY about a young boy called Tom, who is a CHIMNEY-
SWEEP. Tom falls into a river and magically changes into a
'water baby', and he learns all about good and evil from the
good and evil creatures under the water.
wa·ter·bed /'wɔ:təbed||'wɔ:tər-, 'wɑ:-/ n a bed made out of
RUBBER and filled with water. Waterbeds were especially
fashionable in the 1970s.
water birds
gull
pelican
cormorant
swan
penguin
puffin
stork
flamingo
heron
'water bird n any bird that swims or walks in the water
'water biscuit n a rather hard BISCUIT made from flour and
water
wa·ter·borne /'wɔ:təbɔ:n||'wɔ:tərbɔ:rn, 'wɑ:-/ adj carried
by or travelling on water: waterborne trade/diseases
'water bottle n a HOT-WATER BOTTLE
'water boy n AmE 1 someone whose job is to give the
members of a sports team water to drink 2 infml someone
who has a very unimportant job
'water buffalo n an Asian animal like a large cow that is
often kept as a working animal
'water butt especially BrE || usually rain barrel AmE—n a barrel
for collecting rainwater
'water cannon n pl. -non or -nons an apparatus for forcing
a stream of water under very high pressure against objects
and especially people: Police drove off the demonstrators with
water cannon.
'water chestnut n a white, nut-like fruit from a plant
grown in water, often used in Chinese cooking
'water closet n → see WC
wa·ter·col·our BrE || watercolor AmE /'wɔ:təkʌlər||
'wɔ:tər-, 'wɑ:-/ n 1 [C usually pl.;U] colours that are mixed
with water, not oil, and used for painting pictures →
compare OILS 2 [U] the art of painting such pictures 3 [C] a
picture painted in this way → compare OIL PAINTING
'water cooler n a machine, usually in an office, from which
you can get cold drinking water
CULTURAL NOTE The expression 'around the water cooler',
is used to describe informal meetings in which the people
working in an office talk about personal or unofficial
things: At least she's not one of those people who
gossips around the water cooler.
'water cooler TV n [U] infml television programmes which
are so interesting that people are still talking about them the
next day, for example in informal conversations between
people who work together
wa·ter·course /'wɔ:təkɔ:s||'wɔ:tərkɔ:rs, 'wɑ:-/ .n 1 a
natural or artificial passage through which water flows 2 a
stream of water, such as a river or underground stream
wa·ter·cress /'wɔ:təkres||'wɔ:tər-, 'wɑ:-/ n [U] a strong-
tasting plant with dark green leaves grown in water that is
used as food, especially in SALADS or soups
,watered-down adj usually derog reduced in force; weakened:
a watered-down version of the original → see also water
down (WATER²)
,watered silk n [U] a special type of silk that has the
appearance of being covered with shiny waves, like the
surface of water
wa·ter·fall /'wɔ:təfɔ:l||'wɔ:tər-, 'wɑ:-/ n water of a stream,
river etc, falling straight down over rocks, sometimes from a
great height → see also FALLS
'water feature n a small pool, stream, or other structure
that has water in it or running through it, built in a garden
to make it more interesting and attractive
Wa·ter·ford /'wɔ:təfəd||'wɔ:tərfərd, 'wɑ:-/ 1 a COUNTY in
the southeast of the Republic of Ireland 2 the COUNTY TOWN
of Waterford
,Waterford crystal trademark a type of valuable glass product
such as wine glasses and VASES, made from CRYSTAL (=a high
quality type of glass) in Waterford in the Republic of Ireland
'water fountain n AmE for DRINKING FOUNTAIN
wa·ter·fowl /'wɔ:təfaʊl||'wɔ:tər-, 'wɑ:-/ .n pl. -fowl or
-fowls [usually pl.] any bird that swims, such as a duck or
GOOSE, especially one shot by hunters
wa·ter·front /'wɔ:təfrʌnt||'wɔ:tər-, 'wɑ:-/ n [C usually sing.]
an area of land or a part of a town near a stretch of water,
especially when used as a port
Wa·ter·gate /'wɔ:təgeɪt||'wɔ:tər-, 'wɑ:-/ also the 'Water-
gate Af,fair a famous political SCANDAL in the US in the
early 1970s that caused President NIXON to leave his job
before CONGRESS could IMPEACH him (=charge him with a
serious crime). It was discovered that Nixon had agreed to an
attempt to obtain information about the Democratic Party's
plans for the next election, by secretly going into their offices
in the Watergate building in Washington D.C. Nixon later
tried to prevent this information from being discovered. The
Senate asked to hear recordings that Nixon had made of
conversations in his office, but when they received them,
parts of conversations seemed to have been deliberately
removed. These recordings became known as the 'Watergate
tapes'. Much of the information concerning the Watergate
Affair was discovered by two REPORTERS from The WASHING-
TON POST, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, who said that
an important person in the government had given them the
information. They called this person 'Deep Throat' to keep his
real name secret. The Watergate Affair shocked people in the