water
/'wɔ:tə/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A clear, colorless, odorless, and tasteless liquid that is essential for most known forms of life: It is a chemical compound (H₂O) that exists as a liquid at room temperature, freezes into ice, and boils into steam.
- A body of water, such as a sea, lake, river, or ocean: Refers to a specific area or expanse of this liquid.
- A supply of water for domestic or industrial use: The water provided through a public system or facility.
- The amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus before birth (often in the phrase "waters broke").
- The clarity and brilliance of a gemstone: The quality of a diamond or other precious stone.
Verb:
- To pour or sprinkle water on something; to irrigate: To supply land or plants with water.
- To provide an animal with water to drink.
- To secrete or produce a watery fluid: For example, when the eyes produce tears or the mouth produces saliva.
- To dilute a substance by adding water.
- To give a wavy, lustrous pattern to fabric (e.g., silk).
Usage Examples
Noun:
- All living things need water to survive.
- They went sailing on the open water.
- The water was shut off for repairs.
- This diamond is of the finest water.
Verb:
- Please water the plants in the garden.
- Don't forget to water the horses.
- The spicy food made my eyes water.
- The bartender was accused of watering the drinks.
Advanced Usage
"To test the waters": To try something cautiously to gauge reaction or feasibility.
- Before launching the product nationwide, they decided to test the waters in a few local markets.
"To be in deep water": To be in a difficult or troublesome situation.
- He found himself in deep water after missing the project deadline.
"To hold water": To be logical, sound, or valid (often used negatively).
- His alibi for that night doesn't hold water.
Variants and Related Words
- Watery (adj): Containing, resembling, or consisting of water; thin or diluted.
- The soup was too watery.
- Waterless (adj): Lacking water; dry.
- A waterless desert.
- Watering hole (n, informal): A bar or pub where people gather to drink socially.
- Water down (phrasal verb): To dilute; to make something less forceful or effective.
- The critics argued the new policy watered down the original regulations.
Synonyms
- Noun: H₂O, liquid, aqua, flood, sea, ocean, lake.
- Verb: Irrigate, moisten, hydrate, dampen, sprinkle.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Water down: To dilute a liquid; to make an idea, statement, or policy weaker and less effective.
- They had to water down the proposal to get it approved.
- Water over the dam (also under the bridge): Refers to past events that are finished and cannot be changed.
- Our old arguments are just water over the dam now.
Related Idioms
- "Blood is thicker than water": Family relationships are stronger and more important than other relationships.
- "Don't cast your pearls before swine" (related to "cast bread upon the waters"): Do not offer valuable things to people who will not appreciate them. ("Cast bread upon the waters" means to do good without expecting immediate return.)
- "Fish out of water": A person who feels awkward or uncomfortable because they are in an unfamiliar situation.
- At the formal gala, he felt like a fish out of water.
- "Like water off a duck's back": Criticism or negative comments that have no effect on someone.
- The insults were like water off a duck's back to her.
- "Muddy the waters": To make a situation more confusing or less clear.
- His complicated explanation only served to muddy the waters.
- "Still waters run deep": A quiet or placid person may have profound, intense, or complex thoughts and feelings.
Verb
- fill with tears
- His eyes were watering
- secrete or form water, as tears or saliva
- My mouth watered at the prospect of a good dinner
- His eyes watered
- provide with water
- We watered the buffalo
- supply with water, as with channels or ditches or streams
- Water the fields
Noun
- a liquid necessary for the life of most animals and plants
- he asked for a drink of water
- liquid excretory product
- there was blood in his urine
- the child had to make water
- a facility that provides a source of water
- the town debated the purification of the water supply
- first you have to cut off the water
- once thought to be one of four elements composing the universe (Empedocles)
- the part of the earth's surface covered with water (such as a river or lake or ocean)
- they invaded our territorial waters
- they were sitting by the water's edge
- binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent