wet
/wɛt/ adjective, noun, verb
Forms wetter wettest wets wetting wetted
- adjective Made up of liquid or moisture, usually (but not always) water. “Water is wet.”
- adjective Of an object, etc.: covered or impregnated with liquid, usually (but not always) water. “I went out in the rain and now my clothes are all wet.”
- adjective Of a burrito, sandwich, or other food: covered in a sauce.
- adjective Of calligraphy and fountain pens: depositing a large amount of ink from the nib or the feed. “This pen’s a wet writer, so it’ll feather on this cheap paper.”
- adjective Of a sound recording: having had audio effects applied.
- adjective Of weather or a time period: rainy. “It’s going to be wet tomorrow.”
- adjective (aviation) Using afterburners or water injection for increased engine thrust. “This fighter jet's engine is rated for a maximum wet thrust of 450 kilonewtons, more than twice its max dry thrust, but the afterburner eats up a huge amount of fuel.”
- adjective (slang) Of a person: inexperienced in a profession or task; having the characteristics of a rookie. “That guy’s wet; after all, he just started yesterday.”
- noun Liquid or moisture.
- noun Rainy weather. “Don't go out in the wet.”
- noun (Australia) Rainy season. (often capitalized)
- noun (UK, UK politics, derogatory) A moderate Conservative; especially, one who opposed the hard-line policies of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
- noun (colloquial) An alcoholic drink.
- noun (US, colloquial) One who supports the consumption of alcohol and thus opposes Prohibition.
- noun (motor racing, in the plural) A tyre for use in wet weather.
- noun (colloquial, derogatory) A weak or sentimental person; a wimp or softie.
- verb (transitive) To cover or impregnate with liquid.
- verb (transitive, intransitive) To make or become wet.
- verb (transitive) To make (oneself, clothing, a bed, etc.) wet by accidental urination. “Johnny wets the bed several times a week.”
- verb (transitive, soldering) To form an intermetallic bond between a solder and a metal substrate.
Synonyms
wetting damp saturated soaked raining rainy green wet behind the ears horny moist ablaze amorous aroused buckish concupiscent corny desirous drippy DTF excited moisture lactating besotted blind drunk blotto crocked cockeyed fuddled loaded pie-eyed
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English wet (“wet, moistened”), wett, wette, past participle of Middle English weten (“to wet”), from Old English wǣtan (“to wet, moisten, water”), from Proto-West Germanic *wātijan, from Proto-Germanic *wētijaną (“to wet, make wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water, wet”) (also the source of water).
Cognate with Scots weit, wete (“to wet”), Saterland Frisian wäitje (“to wet; drench”), Icelandic væta (“to wet”). Compare also Middle English weet (“wet”), from Old English wǣt (“wet, moist, rainy”), from Proto-West Germanic *wāt, from Proto-Germanic *wētaz (“wet, moist”), related to Scots weit, weet, wat (“wet”), North Frisian wiat, weet, wäit (“wet”), Saterland Frisian wäit (“wet”), West Frisian wiet (“wet”), Middle Dutch wet (“wet, damp, watery”), Swedish and Norwegian våt (“wet”), Danish våd (“wet”), Faroese vátur (“wet”), Icelandic votur (“wet”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Containing, or consisting of, water or other liquid; moist; soaked with a liquid; having water or other liquid upon the surface; as, wet land; a wet cloth; a wet table. "Wet cheeks." Shak.
- adjective Very damp; rainy; as, wet weather; a wet season. "Wet October's torrent flood." Milton.
- noun Water or wetness; moisture or humidity in considerable degree.
- noun Rainy weather; foggy or misty weather.
Etymology [OE. wet, weet, AS. wt; akin to OFries. wt, Icel. vatr, Sw. våt, Dan. vaad, and E. water. Water.]
Etymology [AS. wæta. See Wet, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “wet”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details