water cooler
Americannoun
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a container for holding drinking water that is cooled and drawn off by a faucet or spigot.
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a drinking fountain in which water is cooled by mechanical refrigeration.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of water cooler
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50
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.
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
Standing awkwardly on the outside of someone else’s water cooler.
From Slate ● Apr. 12, 2026
“We’re not spending as much time together in person, and the bar is such an easy way to do that. It’s almost like a water cooler conversation that you don’t have as much anymore.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026
He filled a glass at the water cooler to water his beans.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
