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Pop Culture dictionary results for wet market.

wet market

American  

[wet mahr-kit] / ˈwɛt ˈmɑr kɪt /

noun

1. (especially in China and Southeast Asia) a usually open-air market selling perishable food, as meat, seafood, vegetables, and fruit, and often live animals slaughtered on-site.

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Etymology

Origin of wet market

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

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wet market

These risks include a Chernobyl-like or Chinese wet market accident—a mass disruption event in a form we might not even be able to visualize right now.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Officials in Beijing have repeatedly denied accusations that the Covid-19 pandemic originated through animal-to-human transmission at a wet market in Wuhan, where wildlife was also being sold.

From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2025

Most scientists today believe the COVID-19 pandemic began at a Chinese wet market, with the coronavirus in question likely originating from a bat.

From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2025

Restaurant worker Dong went to a wet market in central Beijing around lunchtime on Thursday, but did not buy anything.

From Reuters ● Aug. 10, 2023

The virus was initially blamed on a wet market in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus was first detected in 2019 before spreading around the globe in early 2020.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 10, 2023