- present participle of water.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of watering
before 1000; Middle English (noun); Old English wæterung. See water, -ing 1, -ing 2
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.
See Examples For:
Yet the notion of a working gardener suggests continuous activity, watering down the image of a man slowing down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Black-and-white news footage shows volunteer firefighters swatting flames with tree branches and dousing flare-ups with flower-pot watering cans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
Later in the evening, at nearby watering hole Bluffs, regulars gathered to toast Dolly, sing karaoke versions of her songs and reminisce about their local legend.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
As an establishment that has long provided first jobs for young people, the watering hole also speaks to one of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s toughest economic challenges: getting young Britons into work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
All that peeked out were my eyes, watering from the cold.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
He put his fruit's gigantic size down to extra care and 12 waterings a day.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2023
Herbs will not grow well in wet conditions, so allow the soil to dry out slightly between waterings.
From Washington Times ● May 23, 2023
“If your germination mix isn’t fully wetted at the start,” Schuyler said, “subsequent waterings won’t fully wet it, and there will be dead spots the water never got to.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 18, 2023
Because they are drought-tolerant, let them dry out between waterings.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 13, 2021
Annie, the fir tree, that the Nolans had cherished with waterings and manurings, had long since sickened and died.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
