water cooler

American  

noun

water coolers plural

1. a container for holding drinking water that is cooled and drawn off by a faucet or spigot.

2. a drinking fountain in which water is cooled by mechanical refrigeration.

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water cooler British  

noun

1. a device for cooling and dispensing drinking water

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1. informal

   1. indicating the kind of informal conversation among office staff that takes place at such a dispenser

      water-cooler conversations

   2. indicating an event, television programme, etc, sufficiently controversial or otherwise noteworthy to provide subject matter for such conversations

      water-cooler television

      a water-cooler moment

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• water coolers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of water cooler

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

water cooler

It’s the thing that everybody talks about around the water cooler on Monday.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

"They want to make water cooler shows that bring audiences together."

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

People claiming to know Rana—from school, work and dating in New York—swapped stories at the online water cooler.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026

Standing awkwardly on the outside of someone else’s water cooler.

From Slate ● Apr. 12, 2026

The forge is cool, the water cooler, and for a second, my fevered shaking slows.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

Related Words

• water fountain