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• water witch
  water witch

  noun

  Also water witcher. a person skilled at water witching; dowser.
• water-witch
  water-witch

  verb (used without object)

  to practice water witching; work as a water witch.

water witch

¹ American  

noun

1. Also water witcher. a person skilled at water witching; dowser.

2. a witch believed to haunt lakes, ponds, etc.

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water-witch ² American  

[waw-ter-wich, wot-er-] / ˈwɔ tərˌwɪtʃ, ˈwɒt ər- /

verb (used without object)

1. to practice water witching; work as a water witch.

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water witch British  

noun

1. a person who claims the ability to detect water underground by means of a divining rod

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Etymology

Origin of water witch

An Americanism dating back to 1810–20

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

water witch water-witch

Gyatso said 90 percent of the ink he uses is from a company called Eternal Ink and is made from organic pigments, distilled water, witch hazel and alcohol.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 8, 2017

After the valley’s most popular dowser died in recent years, Mondavi has become the go-to water witch in Napa Valley.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 3, 2014

When Susan Lynch played a selkie in Roan Inish, she was otherworldly, like some crazy, albeit gorgeous, water witch.

From Time ● Jun. 3, 2010

The Woodvilles were convinced that they were descended from a French water witch named Melusine who lived during the tag end of the Wars of the Roses.

From Time Magazine Archive

“He knows more about water than anybody around here. He’s a water witch and a well-digger too. He’ll tell you. He’s put down half the wells in this part of the valley.”

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

What did I know about the water-witch, and her abominable washing-day?

From The Pearl Story Book A Collection of Tales, Original and Selected by Mrs. (Pamela Chandler) Colman

Then I can only say I would prefer the water-witch.

From A Sappho of Green Springs by Bret Harte

And when Beowulf heard the mournful tale he comforted the King with brave and kindly words, and quickly he set forth to the dreadful mere, the dwelling of the water-witch, Grendel's mother.

From English Literature for Boys and Girls by H. E. (Henrietta Elizabeth) Marshall

The profession of a water-witch did not bring enough ducats to the Smith family; so the attempt was made to find hidden treasures.

From Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. 26, August, 1880 of Popular Literature and Science by Various

I must indeed have been exhausted to chop logic with a water-witch.

From Henry Brocken His Travels and Adventures in the Rich, Strange, Scarce-Imaginable Regions of Romance by Walter De la Mare

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