water cooler

American  

noun

• water coolers
  plural

1. a container for holding drinking water that is cooled and drawn off by a faucet or spigot.

2. a drinking fountain in which water is cooled by mechanical refrigeration.

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water cooler British  

noun

1. a device for cooling and dispensing drinking water

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1. informal

   1. indicating the kind of informal conversation among office staff that takes place at such a dispenser

      water-cooler conversations

   2. indicating an event, television programme, etc, sufficiently controversial or otherwise noteworthy to provide subject matter for such conversations

      water-cooler television

      a water-cooler moment

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• water coolers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of water cooler

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

water cooler

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

Even when we grouse about our jobs, by the water cooler and over Slack, the complaint is rarely about working hard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2025

They turned bags inside out, looked under baseball caps, and even searched under the bleachers and over by the water cooler.

From "The Missing Mitt (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #2)" by Franklin W. Dixon

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Related Words

• water fountain

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