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definitions

water-witch

[waw-ter-wich, wot-er-]
verb (used without object)
  1. to practice water witching; work as a water witch.

water witch

noun
  1. Also water witcher. a person skilled at water witching; dowser.
  2. a witch believed to haunt lakes, ponds, etc.

Origin of water witch

An Americanism dating back to 1810–20
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for water-witch

Historical Examples of water-witch

  • Our trade is the concern of life;—our world, the Water-Witch.

  • It is that there was a spell put upon me—by a water-witch that was of my kindred.

    Three Wonder Plays

    Lady I. A. Gregory

  • I must indeed have been exhausted to chop logic with a water-witch.

    Henry Brocken

    Walter J. de la Mare

  • When he passes over the spot where the hidden springs of water are, the twig goes down, without any volition of the "water-witch."

    Trees Worth Knowing

    Julia Ellen Rogers

  • We have no want of passes, and the Miller's-Maid is just as good a name to hail by, as the 'Water-witch.'

British Dictionary definitions for water-witch

water witch

noun
  1. a person who claims the ability to detect water underground by means of a divining rod
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