water wings


noun(used with a plural verb)
  1. an inflatable contrivance shaped like a pair of wings, usually worn under the arms to keep the body afloat while one swims or learns to swim.

Origin of water wings

1
First recorded in 1900–10

Words Nearby water wings

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use water wings in a sentence

  • I want to sink or swim on my own and not use water wings to get through the world.

    How to Write a Winning Ivy League Essay | Kathleen Kingsbury | October 25, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • It seems unreasonable to give an animal that lives in the water wings, which seemingly can be of no use to it.

    The Pathfinder | James Fenimore Cooper
  • You didn't see any water-wings or life-preservers floating around, did you?

    Left End Edwards | Ralph Henry Barbour
  • Binks, with the captured water-wings in his mouth, was within the girl's reach, and she grasped him and dragged him under.

    The Cottage of Delight | Will N. Harben
  • She looked like a Kewpie in her abbreviated bathing suit, with water wings fastened to her back.

    The Cricket | Marjorie Cooke

British Dictionary definitions for water wings

water wings

pl n
  1. an inflatable rubber device shaped like a pair of wings, which is placed round the front of the body and under the arms of a person learning to swim

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