bilge water
Americannoun
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Nautical. bilge.
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Also called bilge. Slang. foolish, worthless, or offensive talk or ideas; nonsense; rubbish.
Etymology
Origin of bilge water
First recorded in 1700–10
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some suggest bilge water from passing freighters could be aggravating its spread in Turks and Caicos.
From BBC • Jan. 9, 2020
The Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships requires oily bilge water to be treated before being released into the sea.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 16, 2019
Other people will do whatever is necessary to avoid the bracing onslaught of what my wife once called bilge water.
From New York Times • Aug. 1, 2019
The documents also show illegal practices were found on four other Princess ships, including use of clean ocean water to fool onboard sensors that would otherwise detect dumping of improperly contaminated bilge water.
From The Guardian • Dec. 2, 2016
And, say, along about that time, what with the stale cookin’ and bilge water scents that was comin’ from the stuffy cabin, and this charmin’ mood that old Spiller was in, I was gettin’ restless.
From Odd Numbers Being Further Chronicles of Shorty McCabe by Ford, Sewell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.