a person who carries water, as to a body of troops.
a pipe, duct, or tank for conveying water.
a ship that transports goods or persons by waterway or sea routes.
First recorded in 1645–55
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While Erasmus moved around as a water carrier against the Lions, current South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber was able to watch from the coaching box.
From Seattle Times ● May 17, 2022
All British efforts to get, say, the Poles or Frau Merkel to become the water carrier for the Tories’ attempt to get a deal they can live with have been for naught.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2018
Nobody in the Eurogroup has more power than Schäuble, but Dijsselbloem has taken on the role of enforcer—or, to quote one unfriendly observer, water carrier.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 3, 2015
An aerial platform and a water carrier from Inverness were also involved along with welfare and command units.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2014
Also gone are her backpack and our water carrier, a square of hide folded in fourths.
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
Once bought by the government, nationalized, and dumped into the pipes and canals of the National Water Carrier, its water is indistinguishable from the rest.
From BusinessWeek ● Jan. 23, 2014
Israel’s largest water project, the National Water Carrier, diverts water from the Kinneret that would have fed the Dead Sea to supply the center and the southwest of the country.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2013
In the same year, in Berlin, "A Young Girl with Pussy-Willows" and "A Neapolitan Water Carrier" were seen.
From Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D. by Waters, Clara Erskine Clement
The Water Carrier will be described and delineated in the course of this work.
From The Cries of London Exhibiting Several of the Itinerant Traders of Antient and Modern Times by Smith, John Thomas
Cherubini's best opera, "The Water Carrier," was brought out in Paris and London in 1800 and 1801.
From A History of the Nineteenth Century, Year by Year Volume Two (of Three) by Emerson, Edwin
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.
