water cure

noun

hydropathy; hydrotherapy.
a method of torture in which the victim is forced to drink great quantities of water.

Origin of water cure

First recorded in 1835–45

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for water cure

Historical Examples of water cure

"Keep the sermon for the cripples at the water-cure," said Davis, savagely.
Davenport Dunn, Volume 2 (of 2)
Charles James Lever
I have since come a degree nearer on cracked wheat at a water-cure!
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 97, November, 1865
Various
People are beginning to talk of the gas-cure, as they did of the water-cure.
Loss and Gain
John Henry Newman
"The water-cure is the only remedy for me when I am unwell," quoth the Portuguese.
What the Moon Saw: and Other Tales
Hans Christian Andersen
Miss Muller called and swept her off to the Water-cure in the afternoon.
Lippincott's Magazine, Volume 11, No. 26, May, 1873
Various

British Dictionary definitions for water cure

water cure

noun

med a nontechnical name for hydropathy, hydrotherapy
informal a form of torture in which the victim is forced to drink very large amounts of water

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012