wet

[ wet ]

adjective

, wet·ter, wet·test.

1. moistened, covered, or soaked with water or some other liquid:

   wet hands.

   Antonyms: dry

2. in a liquid form or state:

   wet paint.

3. characterized by the presence or use of water or other liquid.
4. moistened or dampened with rain; rainy:

   Wet streets make driving hazardous.

   Synonyms: misty

5. allowing or favoring the sale of alcoholic beverages:

   a wet town.

6. characterized by frequent rain, mist, etc.:

   the wet season.

7. laden with a comparatively high percent of moisture or vapor, especially water vapor:

   There was a wet breeze from the west.

   Synonyms: humid

8. Informal.
   1. intoxicated.
   2. marked by drinking:

      a wet night.

9. using water or done under or in water, as certain chemical, mining, and manufacturing processes.

noun

1. something that is or makes wet, as water or other liquid; moisture:

   The wet from the earth had made the basement unlivable.

   Synonyms: humidity

2. damp weather; rain:

   Stay out of the wet as much as possible.

   Synonyms: drizzle

3. a person in favor of allowing the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.
4. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. wetback.

verb (used with object)

, wet or wet·ted, wet·ting.

1. to make (something) wet, as by moistening or soaking (sometimes followed by through or down ):

   Wet your hands before soaping them.

2. to urinate on or in:

   The dog had wet the carpet.

verb (used without object)

, wet or wet·ted, wet·ting.

1. to become wet (sometimes followed by through or down ):

   Dampness may cause plastered walls to wet. My jacket has wet through.

2. (of animals and children) to urinate.

wet

/ wɛt /

adjective

1. moistened, covered, saturated, etc, with water or some other liquid
2. not yet dry or solid

   wet varnish

3. rainy, foggy, misty, or humid

   wet weather

4. employing a liquid, usually water

   a wet method of chemical analysis

5. characterized by or permitting the free sale of alcoholic beverages

   a wet state

6. informal.
   feeble or foolish
7. wet behind the ears informal.
   wet behind the ears immature or inexperienced; naive

noun

1. wetness or moisture
2. damp or rainy weather
3. See dry
   informal.
   a Conservative politician who is considered not to be a hard-liner Compare dry
4. informal.
   a feeble or foolish person
5. a person who advocates free sale of alcoholic beverages
6. the wet
   the wet (in northern and central Australia) the rainy season

verb

1. to make or become wet
2. to urinate on (something)
3. dialect.
   tr to prepare (tea) by boiling or infusing
4. wet one's whistle informal.
   wet one's whistle to take an alcoholic drink

Derived Forms

• ˈwettable, adjective
• ˌwettaˈbility, noun
• ˈwetter, noun
• ˈwetly, adverb
• ˈwetness, noun
• ˈwettish, adjective

Other Words From

• wetly adverb
• wetness noun
• wetter noun
• wettish adjective
• non·wetted adjective
• re·wet verb rewet or rewetted rewetting
• un·wet adjective
• un·wetted adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of wet¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English wett, past participle of weten, Old English wǣtan “to wet”; replacing Middle English weet, Old English wǣt, cognate with Old Frisian wēt, Old Norse vātr; akin to water

Word History and Origins

Origin of wet¹

Old English wǣt; related to Old Frisian wēt, Old Norse vātr, Old Slavonic vedro bucket

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. all wet, Informal. completely mistaken; in error:

   He insisted that our assumptions were all wet.

2. wet behind the ears, immature; naive; green:

   She was too wet behind the ears to bear such responsibilities.

3. wet out, to treat (fabric) with a wetting agent to increase its absorbency.
4. wet one's whistle. whistle ( def 15 ).

More idioms and phrases containing wet

• all wet
• get one's feet wet
• like (wet as) a drowned rat
• mad as a hornet (wet hen)

Synonym Study

Wet, drench, saturate, soak imply moistening something. To wet is to moisten in any manner with water or other liquid: to wet or dampen a cloth. Drench suggests wetting completely as by a downpour: A heavy rain drenched the fields. Saturate implies wetting to the limit of absorption: to saturate a sponge. To soak is to keep in a liquid for a time: to soak beans before baking.

Example Sentences

Ken Chapman flies a strange-looking helicopter for Erickson Incorporated called an S-64 Aircrane, and to get the wet stuff on board, all he has to do is submerge a snorkel about 18 inches deep in a body of water.

From Popular-Science

The MJO travels eastward along the equator as winds push warm, wet air high into the atmosphere, where the air dries out, cools and descends back toward the surface.

From Science News

While fire is a normal and necessary part of much of California’s forest and rangelands, the region’s trend toward heightened wet and dry extremes, coupled with overall warmer conditions, make the state especially primed for high-intensity burns.

From Popular-Science

I took a hose to the pack for a few minutes, and some of my outer layers got wet through the zippers.

From Outside Online

So don’t think you’re totally safe because, if something failed, this area will get wet.

From Voice of San Diego

Fidel jumped out and hopped into the ocean without getting wet.

From The Daily Beast

Have you noticed there are some people who would love to put a big wet blanket on all of this?

From The Daily Beast

After she “got her feet wet,” Knox began writing under her own name.

From The Daily Beast

If those dry counties get wet, those border stores could find their revenue drying up.

From The Daily Beast

A September poll found 79 percent of likely voters “believe that counties should decide for themselves whether to be wet or dry.”

From The Daily Beast

He turned to the gentle accents of his sweet Alice, breathed in a letter which had been wet with her grateful tears.

From Project Gutenberg

Turn we our backs to the cold gloomy north, to the wet windy west, to the dry parching east—on to the south!

From Project Gutenberg

The farmer told him it was six miles; "but," he added, "you must ride sharp, or you will get a wet jacket before you reach it."

From Project Gutenberg

No; they shall stay at home, and never learn anything, sooner than go and get wet.

From Project Gutenberg

Her fat red cheeks would quiver with emotion, and be wet with briny tears, over the sorrows of Mr. Trollope's heroines.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dank
• foggy
• humid
• misty
• muggy
• rainy
• slippery
• snowy
• soaked
• sodden
• soggy
• stormy