branch water

American  

noun

1. water in or from a branch, creek, stream, etc.; pure, natural water.

2. Also called branch.  Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. (in a drink, highball, etc.) plain water as distinguished from soda water, ginger ale, or the like; ordinary water.

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Etymology

Origin of branch water

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Take the mixers: Brown says that he's having limestone-rich branch water shipped in from Kentucky, and Speyside mineral water shipped from Scotland.

From Washington Post • Jan. 21, 2016

Elvis Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, demands branch water from an arcane spring in the Ozarks for his bourbon.

From Time Magazine Archive

But a lot of branch water has gone into the bourbon since then.

From Time Magazine Archive

I decided I'd better wash the dipper in the branch water before I stuck it into the deep, clear spring.

From Great Jehoshaphat and Gully Dirt! by Smith, Jewell Ellen

Before these three rode away, I said, aside to Jim, who was one of them, 'Don't bother about any whiskey; branch water is plenty nourishing for the wounded.

From Cattle Brands A Collection of Western Camp-fire Stories by Adams, Andy