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.
Chief Engineer Roberto Cayabyab Penaflor admitted to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships for knowingly discharging untreated oily bilge water directly from the tanker into the sea, federal prosecutors said.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 9, 2023
Some suggest bilge water from passing freighters could be aggravating its spread in Turks and Caicos.
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2020
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
Sometimes bilge water can be discharged into the ocean but only after almost all oil is separated out.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 2, 2016
Black, who had been to sea before, decided that he caught the aroma of bilge water.
From Thurston of Orchard Valley by Dunton, W. Herbert
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.
