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.

---

water cooler British  

noun

1. a device for cooling and dispensing drinking water

---

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

These aren’t even movies that you’d bring to the water cooler, lest you want a conversation with a coworker to fall flat after 10 seconds.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

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

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

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

From Slate ● Apr. 12, 2026

Even when we grouse about our jobs, by the water cooler and over Slack, the complaint is rarely about working hard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2025

He filled a glass at the water cooler to water his beans.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

Related Words

• water fountain