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wet

[wet]
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adjective, wet·ter, wet·test.
  1. moistened, covered, or soaked with water or some other liquid: wet hands.
  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.
  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.
  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.
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noun
  1. something that is or makes wet, as water or other liquid; moisture: The wet from the earth had made the basement unlivable.
  2. damp weather; rain: Stay out of the wet as much as possible.
  3. a person in favor of allowing the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.
  4. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. wetback.
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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.
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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.
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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 one's whistle. whistle(def 15).
  4. wet out, to treat (fabric) with a wetting agent to increase its absorbency.
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Origin of wet

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
Related formswet·ly, adverbwet·ness, nounwet·ter, nounwet·tish, adjectivenon·wet·ted, adjectivere·wet, verb re·wet or re·wet·ted, re·wet·ting.un·wet, adjectiveun·wet·ted, adjective
Can be confusedwet whet

Synonyms

See more synonyms for wet on Thesaurus.com
1. dampened, drenched. 4. misty, drizzling. 7. humid. 10. wetness, humidity, dampness, dankness. 11. drizzle. 14. 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.

Antonyms

1. dry.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for wetter

Historical Examples

  • She was no wetter and no more tired than her cousin, she said.

    Thankful's Inheritance

    Joseph C. Lincoln

  • I turned to the Countess; Wetter was already half-way to the door.

    The King's Mirror

    Anthony Hope

  • I took her hand and kissed it; Wetter looked on, saying nothing.

    The King's Mirror

    Anthony Hope

  • Wetter was a keen and convinced partisan, and an ardent believer in himself.

    The King's Mirror

    Anthony Hope

  • My carriage was ordered to come for me at Wetter's; it had not yet arrived.

    The King's Mirror

    Anthony Hope

British Dictionary definitions for wetter

wet

adjective wetter or wettest
  1. moistened, covered, saturated, etc, with water or some other liquid
  2. not yet dry or solidwet varnish
  3. rainy, foggy, misty, or humidwet weather
  4. employing a liquid, usually watera wet method of chemical analysis
  5. mainly US and Canadian characterized by or permitting the free sale of alcoholic beveragesa wet state
  6. British informal feeble or foolish
  7. wet behind the ears informal immature or inexperienced; naive
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noun
  1. wetness or moisture
  2. damp or rainy weather
  3. British informal a Conservative politician who is considered not to be a hard-linerCompare dry (def. 21)
  4. British informal a feeble or foolish person
  5. mainly US and Canadian a person who advocates free sale of alcoholic beverages
  6. the wet Australian (in northern and central Australia) the rainy season
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verb wets, wetting, wet or wetted
  1. to make or become wet
  2. to urinate on (something)
  3. (tr) dialect to prepare (tea) by boiling or infusing
  4. wet one's whistle informal to take an alcoholic drink
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Derived Formswetly, adverbwetness, nounwettability, nounwettable, adjectivewetter, nounwettish, adjective

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for wetter

wet

v.

Old English wætan "to be wet;" see wet (adj.). Related: Wetted; wetting.

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wet

adj.

Old English wæt "moist, liquid," from Proto-Germanic *wætaz (cf. Old Frisian wet ). Also from the Old Norse form, vatr. All related to water (n.1).

Wet blanket "person who has a dispiriting effect" is recorded from 1879, from use of blankets drenched in water to smother fires (the phrase is attested in this literal sense from 1660s). All wet "in the wrong" is recorded from 1923, American English; earlier simply wet "ineffectual," and perhaps ultimately from slang meaning "drunken" (c.1700). Wet-nurse is from 1610s. Wet dream is from 1851; in the same sense Middle English had ludificacioun "an erotic dream."

He knew som tyme a man of religion, þat gaff hym gretelie vnto chastitie bothe of his harte & of his body noghtwithstondyng he was tempid with grete ludificacions on þe nyght. ["Alphabet of Tales," c.1450]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with wetter

wet

In addition to the idioms beginning with wet

also see:

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.