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wetback

American  
[wet-bak] / ˈwɛtˌbæk /

noun

Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.

  1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a Mexican laborer who enters the U.S. illegally, as by wading the Rio Grande.

wetback British  
/ ˈwɛtˌbæk /

noun

  1. informal a Mexican labourer who enters the US illegally

"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

Etymology

Origin of wetback

An Americanism dating back to 1945–50; wet + back 1

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.