wetn.1
/wɛt/, U.S. /wɛt/ 1. Moisture; liquid or moist substance.In occasional use applied to water, blood, sweat, sap, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > [noun]
wetc888
wetec897
wetnessc950
wekea1300
wokeness1340
moistc1387
moistnessc1390
moisturec1390
dank?a1400
humidity1412
wakc1485
waknessc1520
aquosity1528
weakinessa1642
succity1646
fogginess1674
damp1706
α.
γ. 1609 W. Shakespeare Louers Complaint in Sonnets sig. K2 Like vsery applying wet to wet.1633 G. Herbert Providence in Temple xxix When th' earth was dry, thou mad'st a sea of wet.1709 J. Ward Young Mathematician's Guide (1734) 437 Divide the Sum of all those Dips or Wet Inches by the Number of Places you dipp'd in, and the Quotient will be the Mean Wet of all those Dips.1784 J. Twamley Dairying Exemplified 32 If you cut the Cheese when young, you will find, that there is a Moisture, or Wet, in every Place where the Eye is,..which Wet or Moisture is called Tears.1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son liv. 543 The foam was on his lips; the wet stood on his forehead.1894 K. Grahame Pagan Papers 129 The drippings made worms of wet in the thick dust of the road.1897 M. Pemberton Queen of Jesters iii. 105 The floor of the staircase was covered with wet and slime.c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxiii. §5 Swa þæt heora nan oðres mearce ne ofereode, & se cile geþrowode wið ða hæto, & þæt wæt wið þam drygum.
c1220 Bestiary 73 Hise feðres fallen for ðe hete, And he dun mide to ðe wete Falleð in ðat welle grund.
a1240 Ureisun in Old Eng. Hom. I. 187 Hwa is þenne unwaschen þe haueþ þis halwende wet inwið his heorte.
c1290 St. Michael 668 in S. Eng. Leg. 318 Man hath of eorþe al is bodi, and of watere he hauez wete.
c1386 G. Chaucer Canon's Yeoman's Prol. & Tale 634 I se wel how ye swete, Haue heer a clooth, and wipe awey the wete.
1412–20 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy iv. 3375 Whan he [Phoebus]..drieþ vp þe moysture & þe weete Of herbe & floure with his feruent hete.
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 1022 [He] smote þe Damesell vndir þe ere: þe weet gon vpward spyn.
1483 Cath. Angl. 415/1 Weytt, maditas.
a1500 Hist. K. Boccus & Sydracke (?1510) sig. M ijv After a man hath in hym most Of wete of dryeth hete or colde Shall his complexcyon be tolde.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxxix The quycset woll take no rote except it haue great wete.
2.
a. Rainy or damp weather.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wet weather > [noun]
wetec897
wetc1200
dreich1928
α.
β. 1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 7611 In wate and drye, in hate and cald.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6365 Ne for na drught, ne for na wat, Changed neuer þai þare state.γ. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 28 There is nothyng more hurtfull to Winter Corne..then the wette of Winter.1580 T. Tusser Fiue Hundred Pointes Good Husbandrie (new ed.) f. 38v By sowing in wet, is little to get.a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. iii. 147 This distempered messenger of wet? The manie colour'd Iris. View more context for this quotationa1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 801 Great numbers came to see him. But, after they had stood long in the wet, he disappointed them.1801 W. Wordsworth Sparrow's Nest 8 The Sparrow's dwelling, which..in wet or dry My sister Emmeline and I Together visited.1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xviii. 187 Make haste in out of the wet, Tom.1860 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (ed. 2) VI. xxxiii. 419 The sermon intended to be preached at the stake was adjourned, in consequence of the wet, to St. Mary's.1905 Sat. Rev. 15 July 82/1 It is the alternation of wet and fine which brings every crop in its season.c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 123 Man..þoleð..hwile druie and hwile wete, hwile chele, wile hete.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. vi. 21 I haue walked ful wyde In weete and in druye.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) vi. 23 Þer falles oft sithes grete derth of corne..by cause of ouer mykill wete.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xii. 106 Now in hart, now in heyll, Now in weytt, now in blast.
a1505 R. Henryson Garmont Gud Ladeis 24 in Poems (1981) 162 Hir mantill of humilitie To tholl bayth wind and weit.
1650 J. Nicoll Diary (1836) 27 That nicht being..full of wind and weit.
1650 J. Nicoll Diary (1836) 32 Tempestis of weit and wind.
1790 R. Burns in J. Johnson Scots Musical Museum III. 297 Thro' wind and weet, thro' frost and snaw.
b. Atmospheric moisture precipitated as rain, mist, or dew.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > [noun]
wetec897
wetc1290
weather1382
ymurc1540
rheum?1553
precipitation1605
precipitate1832
α.
γ. 1613 T. Campion Relation Royall Entertainm. sig. A4v Because some wet had fallen that day in the forenoone..all her foot-way was spred with broad cloth.1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 68 The Pace of the Moyrye, by reason of much wet lately fallen,..was hard to passe.1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iv. 430 And now the Sun..Had..dry'd the wet From drooping plant, or dropping tree. View more context for this quotation1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. ii. vi. 159 The spontaneous appearance of moisture on substances exposed in the open air when no rain or visible wet is falling.1883 W. Black Shandon Bells xxiv The silent thin wet that seemed to hang in the atmosphere like a vapour.1901 A. M. Fairbairn in W. B. Selbie Life A. M. Fairbairn (1913) 385 Nothing but wet and water fills the whole scene.c1290 St. Michael 604 in S. Eng. Leg. 317 Ȝwane þe sonne hath þudere idrawe þene mist for hete, It ne may no feor for þe colde, ake bicometh al to wete, And gaderez þare to one watur-cloude.
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. i. vii. 41 Ane horribill tempest..made this nobil prince..Invisibill with thik schoure of wete and myst.
1794 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 755 And violets bathe in the weet o' the morn.
c. Rain, water, or damp regarded as deleterious or detrimental. Also, standing water which collects in pools, or which makes the ground muddy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > body of water > still or standing water > [noun]
wetec897
wet?a1500
dead water1601
stand1612
still water1832
the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > [noun] > pernicious or deleterious
wet?a1500
rheum1591
α.
γ. 1684 J. Smith Profit & Pleasure United 74 The Infirmitie of this Creature [the Ass] is mostly in the Feet, occasioned by standing or travelling in the wett.1710 D. Hilman Tusser Redivivus Feb. 5 The reason why unharrowed Beans set in Clay are apt to dye, is because the Wet fills the Holes and rots them.1735 J. Swift Panegyrick on D— in Wks. II. 285 Familiar grown to Dirt and Wet, Though daggled round, I scorn to fret.1853 C. Dickens Bleak House lix. 568 The wet had penetrated my dress.1858 J. M. Stuart Jrnl. 6 July Explor. Austral. (1864) 18 All our rations..being perfectly saturated with wet.186. W. Whitman Amer. Feuillage in Poems (1868) 95 Parties of snowy herons wading in the wet to seek worms.1862 H. Marryat One Year in Sweden I. 74 On high, safe out of wet's way.1883 T. Hardy Three Strangers in Longman's Mag. Mar. 570 The gable-end of the cottage was stained with wet.in combination.1902 Daily Chron. 30 June 3/7 Wet-proof wire coverings.a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Preaching of Swallow l. 1833 in Poems (1981) 71 The woddis grene wer wallowit with the weit.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxiiiiv Pelt rote..cometh of great weate, specially in wood countreis.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 2006 Þre dayes þroly þai..duret vnder hacche, For wete of þe waghes þat wastis ouer hed.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 9653 [They] Turnit to þere tenttes..Thurgh the rug, & the rayn, þat raiked aboue, All wery for wete, & for wan strokes.
1545 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1908) VIII. 341 xxiiij pyonaris..quhilkis drew the cannonis and artalȝe..withtin the munitioun hous to saife the stokis thairof from weit.
1595 in J. Bulloch Pynours (1887) 68 Salt and vther girnell guid subject to the perrell of weytt and rayn.
c1650 J. Spalding Memorialls Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1850) I. 278 Monro causit big wp betuixt the crossis ane court de guard, for saifing of his soldiouris fra weit and cauld on the nicht.
d. (With plural) A burst, storm, downpour, shower, or spell of rain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > rain > [noun] > a or the fall of rain
wetec897
rainsOE
raindropc1400
wetc1440
onfall1803
rainfall1817
rainfall1855
the world > time > period > year > season > [noun] > with reference to weather conditions > rainy or hot season
heat1390
rainy season1655
wet1733
monsoon season1976
α.
γ. 1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xxi. 760/2 The weather extream in wets and frosts.1726 J. Laurence New Syst. Agric. 281 Gardens which..are apt to be overflowed or soak'd with Water in the Winter, (for Summer Wets never hurt them).1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farming 47 The Wets that generally fall then.1851 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 12 ii. 391 The weather often turning into sudden wets.c1440 Alphabet of Tales 217 On þe day at he was berid on, þer fell suche a wete and a rayn, þat ij dayes after þai mott nott berie hym.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid v. xii. 53 A huge weit gan doun pour and tumbill.
1545 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Prouerbes (new ed.) f.liii. A mysselyng rayne gendreth a great weat.
a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) II. 312 Terribill windes with raine and weittis quhilk continewit xlviij houris togidder.
1606 in Sel. Rec. Kirk Sess. Aberd. (Spalding Club) 53 The gryt invndatioun of weittis liklie to rott the cornis.
1650 J. Nicoll Diary (1836) 8 Much unseasonable weather, the lyke quhairof wes not usuall for weittis, cold, frostes and tempestis.
1660 J. Childrey Britannia Baconica 65 Earthquakes always succeed great wets.
3. Liquor, drink. In modern use only slang; esp. in heavy-wet, malt liquor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > [noun]
drink1042
liquor1340
bousea1350
cidera1382
dwale1393
sicera1400
barrelc1400
strong drinkc1405
watera1475
swig1548
tipple1581
amber1598
tickle-brain1598
malt pie1599
swill1602
spicket1615
lap1618
John Barleycornc1625
pottle1632
upsy Englisha1640
upsy Friese1648
tipplage1653
heartsease1668
fuddle1680
rosin1691
tea1693
suck1699
guzzlea1704
alcohol1742
the right stuff1748
intoxicant1757
lush1790
tear-brain1796
demon1799
rum1799
poison1805
fogram1808
swizzle1813
gatter1818
wine(s) and spirit(s)1819
mother's milkc1821
skink1823
alcoholics1832
jough1834
alky1844
waipiro1845
medicine1847
stimulant1848
booze1859
tiddly1859
neck oil1860
lotion1864
shrab1867
nose paint1880
fixing1882
wet1894
rabbit1895
shicker1900
jollop1920
mule1920
giggle-water1929
rookus juice1929
River Ouse1931
juice1932
lunatic soup1933
wallop1933
skimish1936
sauce1940
turps1945
grog1946
joy juice1960
α.
γ. 1821 P. Egan Life in London iii. 226 The soldiers and their trulls were seen tossing off the heavy wet and spirits.1821 P. Egan Real Life in London I. xviii. 392 note Heavy wet—A well-known appellation for beer, porter, or ale.1839 J. Grant Trav. Town I. 167 Pots of foaming heavy wet.1894 J. D. Astley Fifty Years of my Life II. 197 After a lot of talk and a certain amount of ‘wet’ he and I made three matches.c960 Æthelwold Rule St. Benet xliii. 69 Ac he ana gereorde..and be dæle æt and wæt gewanod sy.
c1000 Ælfric Homilies I. 66 He ne mæg ætes oððe wætes brucan.
c1000 Ælfric Saints' Lives xvi. 270 He..to micel nimð on æte oððe on wæte [c1175 Lamb. Hom. 103 on ete oðer on wete].
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 7852 Himm birrþ lokenn himm fullwel Fra luffsumm æte. & wæte.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > dryness > dry [phrase] > without being wet
without weta1400
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > deteriorate in condition [verb (intransitive)] > by damp
to take wet1513
to moisture away1519
reta1642
to fog off1802
sodden1821
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 18547 Apon þe see wit-vten wete Gangand als apon a strete.
1513 Act 5 Hen. VIII c. 4 §1 (3) If the same Worsted..taketh any Wet, incontinent it will shew spotty and foul.
1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. 378 After they had beene weakened with this daungerous wet that they tooke.
1631 E. Pellham Gods Power 24 Wee found that all our Frittars of the Whale were almost spoyled with the wet that they had taken.
1693 J. Locke Some Thoughts conc. Educ. §7 He that considers how Mischievous and Mortal a thing, taking Wet in the Feet is to those, who have been bred nicely.
1712 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1889) III. 301 The Book hath taken wet, and the Letters..are hardly visible.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to medium or technique > [adverb] > mural > fresco
in wet1622
a frescac1660
al fresco1756
1622 H. Peacham Compl. Gentleman xii. 121 He wrought in distemper (as we call it) or wet with size, sixe histories of patient Iob.
1622 H. Peacham Compl. Gentleman xii. 133 Making in his Cloyster many Histories in wet, after Masaccio's manner.
6. A ‘wet’ person (see wet adj. 15b); spec. a politician with liberal or middle-of-the-road views on controversial issues (often applied to members of the Conservative Party opposed to the monetarist policies of Margaret Thatcher).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > groups or attitudes right to left > [noun] > moderatism > moderate
moderate1648
moderatist1716
non-militant1840
moderantist1877
mod1907
wet1931
society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > British party politics > [noun] > Toryism or conservatism > a Tory or conservative > types of
tantivy1680
roary1681
high Tory1706
high-flying Tory1708
Tory Democrat1805
Tory-Radical1834
neo-Tory1865
wet1980
dry1983
1931 F. L. Allen Only Yesterday x. 254 The Government putting wood alcohol and other poisons into industrial alcohol to prevent its diversion, and the wets thereupon charging the Government with murder.
1933 D. L. Murray Eng. Family Robinson vii. 159 He's quite right... You are a wet! Who does pay regularly?
1939 G. Heyer No Wind of Blame xvi. 299 He's a regular wet, that chap: doesn't hold with blood sports.
1948 C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident ix. 111 Don't be a wet. We'll get off all right.
1961 C. Willock Death in Covert xi. 201 ‘That wet,’ said fford, reverting to a school~boy expression. ‘Wet he may be, but he knows about lighters.’
1974 I. Murdoch Sacred & Profane Love Machine 76 You've made me into a bloody wet. I'm a fighter and you've made me into a weak person.
1976 S. Barstow Right True End iii. xii. 180 She likes to throw out these challenges that put me to the test and make feel a weak-kneed wet.
1980 B. W. Aldiss Life in West ii. 42 He's a bit of a wet, but quite a sound art-historian.
7. U.S. slang (derogatory and offensive). = wetback n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > migrant > [noun] > immigrant > illegal > other specific
illegitimate1827
wetback1920
overstayer1959
mojado1971
wet1973
1973 Daily Tel. 16 Feb. (Colour Suppl.) 13/1 In the past, unscrupulous employers would employ a ‘wet’ for a month, then denounce him to the Immigration authorities before pay day.
1979 Time 8 Oct. 33/1 A group of ‘wets’, or ‘undocumented workers’, as official jargon calls them. Most of the Mexican aliens are poor, frightened and docile people whose only crime is seeking to find work and a better life in the U.S.
1979 G. Swarthout Skeletons 104 Why doesn't this [system] detect every wet who puts a toe across the line?
Draft additions 1993
8. slang (Motor Racing, etc.). A wet-weather tyre.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [noun] > parts of vehicle moving on wheels > wheel > rubber or pneumatic tyre > types of
sidewall1901
non-skid1905
retread1909
remould1928
recap1929
knobbly1938
knobby1943
whitewall1950
slick1959
bias-ply1964
radial1964
cross-ply1965
snow1968
Pennsylvania cap1971
wet1977
1977 Times 15 July (Motor-Racing Suppl.) p. ii (caption) Ronnie Peterson waits in his six-wheel Tyrrell as the tyres are changed from ‘wets’ to ‘dry slicks’.
1986 Grand Prix Internat. July 46/3 There was little chance that the track was going to dry out... Everybody fitted wets apart from Boutsen who gambled with slicks.
1988 Motor Cycle News 7 Sept. 10/3 Pirovano, running full wets like the rest of the grid, came from nowhere in the closing stages..for his one second win.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
wetn.2
/wɛt/, U.S. /wɛt/ 1. colloquial. A drink or draught of some alcoholic beverage; a glass of liquor.In the 18th cent. apparently sometimes confused with whet n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > [noun] > a drink of
strong drink?1490
drink1535
whiff1605
tip1612
wet1719
swilla1731
booze1732
slug1756
whitter1786
intoxication1799
O (or oh) be joyful1823
sneezer1823
north-wester1830
drain1836
damp1837
smile1839
snifter1844
liquor1860
rosiner1871
tiddlywink1880
bevvy1889
gargle1889
snort1889
jolt1904
smahan1914
tincture1914
taste1919
piss1925
drinkie1947
smash1959
shant1960
1719 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth V. 125 At Noon he gets up for a wet and to Dine.
c1752 Narr. Journ. Irish Gentleman Eng. (1869) 47 Valerius protested he could not walk back to dinner until he had taken a wet, as he called it: and..he went into a tavern..and produced some cold roast beef, Cheshire cheese, and a cool tankard.
1789 Trifler No. xxxviii. 487 John Whip enquired of his knot of brethren on the roof whether they would take a wet.
1880 S. Baring-Gould Mehalah II. ix. 156 Do you, Elijah, hand a wet round.
1881 A. C. Grant Bush-life in Queensland (1882) iii. 22 No bargain could be completed without a ‘wet’ over it.
1890 Beeton's Christmas Ann. 17 You look dry; let's have a wet.
1910 L. Gerard Golden Centipede x Chrys won't dare to hide the wets when there are visitors in the house.
2. U.S. slang. A person who is opposed to prohibition.
ΚΠ
1918 Nation (N.Y.) 11 Apr. 438/2 Massachusetts was counted upon by the ‘wets’ as one of the ‘last-ditchers’.
1925 Times 30 Jan. 11/3 That at present they are effectively enforced nobody will contend seriously, neither ‘drys’ nor ‘wets’.
1931 F. L. Allen Only Yesterday iv. 76 The growing company of the wets.
3. slang. Urination, the act of urinating; urine. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > defecation or urination > urinary system > [noun] > urination
pissinga1398
urine1561
urination1599
staling1601
miction1663
urining1668
piss?1837
piddle1870
micturating1879
pee1880
pee-wee1909
wet1925
peeing1929
leak1934
Jimmy Riddle1937
wee-wee1937
tinkle1939
run-off1944
slash1950
No. 11965
wee1968
widdle1969
gypsy's kiss1971
Jimmy1971
whizz1971
gypsy's1972
void1980
wazz1994
1925 D. H. Lawrence Novel in Refl. Death Porcupine 122 But see old Leo Tolstoi wetting on the flame. As if even his wet were absolute!
1975 J. Cleary Safe House ii. 71 The children want to wet... Come on, love. Have your wet.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
wetadj.
/wɛt/, U.S. /wɛt/ 1. Consisting of moisture, liquid. Chiefly as a pleonastic rhetorical epithet of water or tears.In Old English used with reference to mediaeval physiology = moist adj. 1d, humid adj. b.
ΘΠ
the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > [adjective]
wetc888
dank?a1400
c888 Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. xxxiii. §5 Sie eorðe is dryge & ceald, & þæt wæter wæt & ceald.
c1000 Ælfric Lives Saints xxx. 441 Forgif, drihten, þæt þyses fyres hæto sy gecyrred on wætne deaw.
c1220 Bestiary 752 Al ðat eure smelleð swete, be it drie, be it wete.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 23679 Waters renand alwais wat.
13.. K. Horn (Harl.) 970 Horn..spec wiþ wete tearen.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace 9952 Þre dayes hit was þey nought ete, Ne nought drank þat was wete.
c1374 G. Chaucer Compl. Mars 89 This cely Venus nygh dreynt in teres wete.
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus v. 1109 Phebus with his hete Gan..to warmen of þe Est See þe wawes wete.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vii. v. 82 Careit throu feill large haw stremys wait.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xxi. 68 Be your teares wet, yes faith, I pray weep not. View more context for this quotation
a1861 E. B. Browning Last Poems (1862) 38 Our voice which thrilled you so, will let You sleep; our tears are only wet.
1894 Pall Mall Gaz. 20 Dec. 3/1 At Suez, Padishah gave way to tears—actual wet tears—when Potter became the owner of the birds.
1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 85 But, oh, the little cargo-boats, that sail the wet seas roun'.
2.
a. Of weather, a period of time, a locality: Rainy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wet weather > [adjective] > wet (of weather, place, or time)
wetc893
moista1398
waterya1398
moistya1500
waterish1545
washy1566
rotten1567
slabby1653
weety1658
late1673
fresh1790
slottery1790
soft1812
givey1829
juicy1837
sploshy1838
sposhy1842
slip-sloppya1845
splishy-splashyc1850
shabby1853
soppy1872
sappy1885
c893 tr. Orosius Hist. iii. iii. 102 Of untidlican gewideran, þæt is, of wætum sumerum, & of drygum wintrum.
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 96 As wete somers nurishen siche tares.
c1461 Bale's Chron. in Six Town Chron. (1911) 145 Upon Thursday which was a wete day.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 21v You must not plowe in wette weather.
1637 J. Milton Comus 32 Wet Octobers torrent flood.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1679 (1955) IV. 182 A very wett, & sickly season.
1685 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) II. 382 The wettest and windiest day that I have seene.
1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 158 The Simmer had been cauld an' wat.
1849 C. Brontë Shirley II. i. 25 They had passed a long wet day together without ennui.
1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting iii. 94 Three miserable soaking-wet days.
1870 J. H. Bennet Winter & Spring Mediterranean vii. 177 [In] The Riviera..it is seldom or never, at the same time, cold and wet.
1877 T. H. Huxley Physiography 46 The wettest spot in England being near Seathwaite in Cumberland.
b. Of the air, wind, etc.: Holding or carrying moisture in the form of vapour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > [adjective] > holding moisture in vapour form
waterya1398
wetc1540
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 12474 Wintur vp wacknet with his wete aire.
1883 R. L. Stevenson Silverado Squatters ii. ii. 86 In the tunnel a cold, wet draught..blew.
c. Of a star: Bringing rain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > rain > [adjective] > causing, bringing, or connected with rain
rainyc1384
plungy?a1425
wetc1425
rainbred1582
showery1594
pluvian1799
rainful1877
rain-making1889
c1425 MS Digby 233 lf. 225/1 At holy rode day..bygynneth þe myȝt & þe strengþe of þe wete sterre arture.
d. transferred and figurative. (Cf. rainy day n. 2.)
Π
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) i. 38 Ergo, saith the Miser, part with nothing, but keep all against a Wet day.
1691 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. 34 The Children of this World..will [not] let slip any other Advantage..of providing against a Wet Day.
1865 J. Hatton Bitter Sweets v You'd most likely come down topsy-turvy, and have a werry wet welcome at the end of it.
1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton xxix Scotland was evidently bent on giving us a wet welcome.
e. Combinations (adjective + noun used as an attributive phrase).
Π
1883 R. Broughton Belinda II. iii. vi. 298 It was an innocent enough wet-day amusement!
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 96 The torrential downpour of the wet-season rain.
1901 ‘C. Holland’ Mousmé 323 Their huge wet-weather hats.
f. absol. = wet season. Frequently with definite article and also with capital initial. colloquial (chiefly Australian).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wet weather > [noun] > rainy season (tropical)
rains1615
rainy season1655
long rains1670
season1707
monsoon1747
high season1759
plum rains1894
wet1897
bai-u1910
kharif1920
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 371 When the Ogowé and its neighbouring rivers come down in the ‘long wet’.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 375 In February comes the short dry, then the short wet till May.
1908 J. Gunn We of Never-never i. 5 He..wired an inane suggestion about waiting till after the Wet.
1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 29 Aug. 20/4 In the ‘wet’ it became a miniature lake at which one cocky's horses were wont to drink.
1941 I. L. Idriess Great Boomerang vii. 51 An early and heavy wet would set in that would spill water for a thousand miles south-west.
1968 S. L. Elliott Rusty Bugles in E. Hanger Three Austral. Plays i. ii. 41 That's what everyone tells me. Wait until you've done a Wet.
1981 P. Carey Bliss iii. 135 Each year when the wet ended she found herself looking forward to it again.
3. absolute.1823 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well I. viii. 194 Miss Clara cares little for rough roads..Zounds! She can spank it over wet and dry.figurative.1824 W. Irving Club Queer Fellows ii, in Tales of Traveller A good joke grows in a wet soil,..but withers on your d——d high dry grounds.in combination.1778 W. Marshall Minutes Agric. Digest 70 A wet-land Farm.
a. Of land or soil: Holding water, saturated with water, heavy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > ground > [adjective] > wet
weta900
wateryOE
irrigate?a1412
waterish1540
irriguate1632
irriguous1651
springish1663
spewy1669
puddleda1721
swashy1796
puddly1843
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > soil qualities > [adjective] > soft or yielding > through excess water
weta900
clammy1530
waterish1540
weeping1577
spongy1652
stagnant1850
a900 Leiden Riddle 1 Mec se ueta uong, uundrum freorig, ob his innaðae aerest caendæ.
c1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 90 Ðeos wyrt..bið cenned gehwær on smeþum landum & on wætum.
a1023 Wulfstan Homilies 249 Loca humentia, þæt beoð wæte stowa.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 1318 Gyson, fison, tigre, eufrate, Þis four mas al þis erth wate.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xiv. 41 Þe wylde worme vnder weet erthe.
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. xi. 968 Þe watyr of Nyle our fletis it all Withe mowynge spryngis wiþ outtyn spate, Qwhen Egipte nedis to be wate [Wemyss wait].
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xix. 692 For I haf gert spy ws a gat. Suppos that it be sum-deill wat, A page of ouris we sall nocht tyne.
1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. aiiv Sa wundir wait wes the way.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. ix [Oats] wyll growe on weter grounde than any corne els.
1557 T. Tusser Hundreth Good Pointes Husbandrie sig. B.ii When pasture is gone, and the fildes mier and weate.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 286 Thay contendet to cum out of that narow and watt place ful of dubis and myres.
1625 G. Markham Inrichm. Weald of Kent 9 A cold, stiffe and wet clay.
1784 Ann. Agric. 2 43 In many of their fields they are troubled with springs; they call the wet spots squalls.
1842 J. Bischoff Comprehensive Hist. Woollen Manuf. II. 383 This is not, however, a turnip soil, being much too wet and heavy.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre I. v. 83 All underfoot was still soaking wet with the floods of yesterday.
1911 G. Macdonald Roman Wall Scotl. 132 The field at the bottom is still wet and marshy.
b. Of a crop: Grown in a moist or watery soil.
Π
1885 W. W. Hunter Imperial Gazetteer India (ed. 2) II. 63 The most valuable of the ‘wet’ crops is sugar-cane.
4. Made damp or moist by exposure to the elements or by falling in water; sprinkled, covered, or permeated with rain, dew, etc. Const. with, †of.
a. of things, esp. clothing.
ΘΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > [adjective]
wetc900
moisty1386
nesha1387
dank?a1400
watery?a1439
sappy?a1500
dankish1540
spongy1600
sluiced1607
madid1615
humidious1630
uvid1656
madent1727
muggy1731
sockya1825
suckeny1878
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > [adjective] > made wet > by exposure to elements or by falling in water
wetc900
wetc1275
c900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (1890) v. xii. 436 Næfre he ða his wætan hræl & þa cealdan forlætan wolde, oðþæt hig eft of his seolfes lichoman gewermedon & adrugedon.
c1290 St. Bridget 39 in S. Eng. Leg. 193 So gret rein ore louerd to eorþe sende Þat hire cloþes al wete weren.
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women 775 Aurora with the stremys of hir hete Hadde dreyed vp the dew of erbis wete.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 523/1 Weet, wythe reyne, complutus.
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 140 As for hercules all that he had vpon hym was weet and nothing drye.
1596 W. Raleigh Discoverie Guiana (new ed.) 9 The weete clothes of so many men thrust together.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 v. i. 77 O you shall see him laugh til his face be like a wet cloake ill laide vp. View more context for this quotation
1714 B. Mandeville Fable Bees i. 219 In comes the nimble Messenger smoaking hot, with his Cloaths as wet as Dung with the Rain.
1800 W. Wordsworth in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads II. 93 The Traveller would hang his wet clothes on a chair.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers l. 542 The sky was dark and gloomy..the streets wet and sloppy.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xviii. 182 She..slipped off her shoes..and walked deliberately..through the wettest of the wet grass.
1866 A. C. Swinburne Interlude in Poems & Ballads 2 In the greenest growth of the Maytime, I rode where the woods were wet, Between the dawn and the daytime.
1884 D. Pae Eustace 13 Eustace..was not long in divesting himself of his wet garments.
b. of persons (together with their clothes) or a part of the body. Also of animals.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > lachrymal organs > [adjective] > excretion from eyes
wetc1275
beteareda1586
moist1600
swellinga1616
brimful1700
moist-eyed1797
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > [adjective] > made wet > by exposure to elements or by falling in water
wetc900
wetc1275
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14015 Þa wes ich al wet & weri of sorȝen and seoc.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 187 Wery and weet as beest is in the reyn Comth sely Iohn.
?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 139 Wherof hercules and exione were all wette of the wasshing and springyng of the wawes.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) iv. 380 Thouch thai wate war and wery.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cccxxiv. 205 b Suche as were wete & colde made fyers to warme them.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 (2nd issue) iii. i. 27 Canst thou, ô partiall sleepe, giue them repose, To the wet season in an howre so rude.
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne i. xiv. 4 He..shooke his wings with roarie May-dewes wet.
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1641 (1955) II. 62 We were forced to walke on foote very wett, and discompos'd.
1728 A. Ramsay Anacreontic on Love 8 A poor young wean a' wat!
1789 W. Blake Little Boy Lost in Songs of Innocence The child was wet with dew.
1825 W. Cobbett Rural Rides in Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 12 Nov. 425 The farm-house..from the warmth and good fare of which we do not mean to stir, until we can do it without the chance of a wet skin.
1849 G. P. R. James Woodman III. xiv. 281 Set me a seat by the fire,..and then call in the slave. He is wetter than we are.
1861 E. D. Cook Paul Foster's Daughter i Besides, I hate to get wet.
1918 Chambers's Jrnl. 1 Oct. 678/2 Mad as a wet hen because I refuse to take his word for it that the titles are O.K.
c. with prefixed intensive participle, as wringing wet (see wringing adj. 1b), dripping wet, †dropping wet. wet through, to the skin: having one's clothes completely saturated (cf. wet v. 4c).
ΘΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > [adjective]
thorough wetOE
drunk1382
drunkenc1420
uliginosec1440
dung wetc1450
drookeda1522
wet through, to the skin1526
sogginga1552
washed1557
washy1566
muck-wet1567
wringing wet1570
drenched1589
dropsy1605
ydrenched1610
sobby1611
dropsieda1616
slocken1643
uliginous1650
dabbling1661
sodded1661
sobbing1664
sobbed1693
flashy1702
saturated1728
saturate1785
livereda1796
sappy1806
laving1812
sodden1820
sopped1822
soppy1823
soaked1829
dropsical1845
soddened1845
soaking wet1847
soggya1852
sogged1860
soaking1864
sopping1866
soaken1898
astream1929
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > [adjective] > enough to be wrung out
wringing wet1570
dropping wet1605
dripping wet1835
1526 100 Merry Tales No. 82 (facs.) 22 b There fel a good showre of rayn that the skoler was well wasshyd and wete to ye skyn.
1598 Floure & Leafe in T. Speght Wks. G. Chaucer f. 367v/2 Wherwith they made hem stately fires great To dry their clothes yt were wringing weat.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. v. 146 Dropping wet..I returne to land Laden with spoiles.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Traversé,..wet through, or (as we say) to the skinne.
1764 S. Foote Mayor of Garret i. 12 I don't believe..that they were ever wet to the skin in their lives.
1770 J. Wesley Jrnl. 16 Apr. We..got into a Scotch mist, and were dropping wet.
1803 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) I. 61 But all this does not make it the more agreeable to get wet through.
1835 W. Irving Tour on Prairies xiii Some dripping wet, having fallen into the river.
1840 H. W. Longfellow in S. Longfellow Life H. W. Longfellow (1891) I. 359 The last eighteen miles it rained like fury, and I reached Hartford wet through.
1859 F. E. Paget Curate of Cumberworth 343 The rain set in..so heavily, that in half an hour I was wet to the skin.
d. absol. the wet = one's wet clothes.
ΘΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > [noun] > wet clothes
the wet17..
17.. Ploughman iii, in D. Herd Anc. & Mod. Sc. Songs (1776) II. 145 Cast aff the wet, put on the dry, And gae to bed, my deary.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary II. x*. 280 And then the man casts aff the wat and puts on the dry, and sits down..behint the ingle.
e. Applied to a removable liner for the cylinder of an internal-combustion engine that has cooling water flowing between it and the cylinder wall.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [adjective] > specific parts
float-feed1902
thermo-siphonic1920
cutting-in1924
downdraught1929
wet1935
choke1959
1935 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 39 470 The four cylinders 63 m/m. bore by 120 m/m. stroke were steel jacketed, wet liners, having four valves per cylinder.
1959 Motor 14 Oct. 304/2 Cylinder blocks with individual wet liners of cast iron.
1975 M. J. Nunney Automotive Engine iii. 94 Positive sealing arrangements must be made with wet cylinder liners to prevent leakage of coolant into the crankcase.
1981 H. E. Ellinger Automotive Engines x. 157/2 Coolant flows around the cylinder sleeve, so this type of sleeve is called a wet sleeve.
5.
a. Suffused with tears; moist with weeping or with being wept upon. Const. with, †of.
ΘΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > [adjective] > suffused or wet with tears
wet?c1225
beweptc1320
tearyc1374
moistc1390
watery1447
watered1571
blubberedc1575
vaporous1583
swelling1769
moist-eyed1797
?c1225 Ancrene Riwle (Cleo.: Scribe B) (1972) 203 Bi halt wið wet ehe þine scheome sunnen.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15106 Wete weoren his wongen.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 25999 Þat þou mai sai al wit þe prophet, Mi weping mas mi bed al wet.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2356 Euerilc he kiste, on ilc he gret, Ilc here was of is teres wet.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 98 Hire yhen smale and depe set, Hire chekes ben with teres wet.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 422 The pure fettres of his shynes grete Were of his bittre salte teeris wete.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) ix. 226 His eyen wexed weete agen for pite.
a1513 W. Dunbar Ballat Passioun in Poems (1998) I. 38 Repentence ay with cheikis wait No pane nor pennence did eschew.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 35 These her Women..who with wet cheekes Were present when she finish'd. View more context for this quotation
1668 J. Dryden Sr Martin Mar-all iv. 47 Lord! her innocency makes me laugh my Cheeks all wet.
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 17 Epistles wet With tears, that trickled down the writer's cheeks.
1871 W. C. Bryant tr. Homer Odyssey I. v. 123 Gazing with wet eyes on the barren deep.
1885 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche iii. xxvi. 37 And when at night her lover kissed her, lo! Her tender face was wet with tears of grief.
b. Suffused or covered with blood; dripping or oozing with blood. (Only of wounds, or with explicit mention of blood.)
ΘΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > soiled condition > [adjective] > stained > stained or smeared with blood
redOE
bloodyOE
drearyOE
weta1300
bloodedc1300
bleedingc1305
forbled1387
gory?a1500
cruent1524
purpled1561
brued1563
beweltered1565
bloodied1566
beblubbered1582
purple1590
bloodstained1594
ensanguined1628
blood-bedabbled1629
cruentous1648
cruentate1661
begored1683
sanguined1700
bluggy1876
a1300 Cursor Mundi 24082 His bodi al blodi wat.
13.. Sir Orfeo 80 Sche froted hir honden and hir fet, And crached hir visage, it bled wete.
c1320 Cast. Love 1433 Þe woundes grene and weet, Wȝuche þat weoren on honden and feet.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 15628 Þat was blod þan of him ran, þe place was þar-wit wett.
c1440 York Myst. xxxviii. 283 Þat swete, Þat for my loue tholed woundes wete.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 1329 Wyde woundes & wete.
1804 W. L. Bowles Spir. Discov. iv. 24 The evil of his march through cities stormed, And regions wet with blood!
c. Moist or damp with perspiration.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > excretions > perspirations > [adjective] > covered or damp with sweat
swotyc893
besweatc1275
forswatc1325
wetc1400
all on a watera1438
foaming1590
sweaty1590
sweated1654
deliquescent1815
perspiry1860
sticky1884
c1400 Laud Troy Bk. 8436 Of his forhede barst the swote, That al his face ther-of was wote.
1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 10 84 After violent perspiration, a linen or cotton shirt becomes wet.
d. to get wet: to lose one's temper, become angry. Australian slang (? Obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > [verb (intransitive)] > become angry
wrethec900
wrothc975
abelghec1300
to move one's blood (also mood)c1330
to peck moodc1330
gremec1460
to take firea1513
fumec1522
sourdc1540
spitec1560
to set up the heckle1601
fire1604
exasperate1659
to fire up1779
to flash up1822
to get one's dander up1831
to fly (occasionally jump, etc.) off (at) the handle1832
to have (also get) one's monkey up1833
to cut up rough, rusty, savage1837
rile1837
to go off the handle1839
to flare up1840
to set one's back up1845
to run hot1855
to wax up1859
to get one's rag out1862
blow1871
to get (also have) the pricker1871
to turn up rough1872
to get the needle1874
to blaze up1878
to get wet1898
spunk1898
to see red1901
to go crook1911
to get ignorant1913
to hit the ceiling1914
to hit the roof1921
to blow one's top1928
to lose one's rag1928
to lose one's haira1930
to go up in smoke1933
hackle1935
to have, get a cob on1937
to pop (also blow) one's cork1938
to go hostile1941
to go sparec1942
to do one's bun1944
to lose one's wool1944
to blow one's stack1947
to go (also do) one's (also a) dingerc1950
rear1953
to get on ignorant1956
to go through the roof1958
to keep (also blow, lose) one's cool1964
to lose ita1969
to blow a gasket1975
to throw a wobbler1985
1898 Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Dec. Red Page To get narked is to lose your temper; also expressed by getting dead wet.
1916 C. J. Dennis Songs Sentimental Bloke (new ed.) 42 Romeo gits wet as 'ell.
1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. 121 A man in a temper is said..to get wet.
e. to get (someone) wet: to gain the upper hand over; to have at one's mercy. New Zealand slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)]
overcomeeOE
forecomec1000
overwieldlOE
masterc1225
overmaistrie1340
overmatcha1375
overpassa1382
surmount1390
to have the fairer (of)c1400
maistriec1400
overmasterc1425
winc1440
overc1485
bestride1526
rixlec1540
overreach1555
control1567
overmate1567
govern1593
to give (a person) the lurch1598
get1600
to gain cope of1614
top1633
to fetch overa1640
down1641
to have the whip hand (of)1680
carberry1692
to cut down1713
to be more than a match for1762
outflank1773
outmaster1799
outgeneral1831
weather1834
best1839
fore-reach1845
to beat a person at his (also her, etc.) own game1849
scoop1850
euchrec1866
bemaster1871
negotiate1888
to do down1900
to get (someone) wetc1926
lick1946
c1926 ‘Mixer’ Transport Workers' Song Bk. 29 He skites about in-fighting. Stick to him, Mick; you've got him wet.
1941 Coast to Coast 124 ‘Got you wet, haven't they?’ He flung the remark over his shoulder as he went over to his bed.
1945 F. Sargeson When Wind Blows vi. 40 Now we've got 'em wet.
f. Of those activities of intelligence organizations, esp. of the K.G.B., that involve assassination. slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > law enforcement > police force or the police > political police > [adjective] > specific methods of
Chekist1925
wet1972
1972 A. Price Col. Butler's Wolf vi. 58 The Russian slang for Spetsburo Thirteen was Mokryye Dela—‘The department of wet affairs’..and to get wet was the feared, inevitable fate of traitors pursued by the special bureau.
1975 J. Grady Shadow of Condor ii. 47 ‘The courier made other mistakes... It was a wet affair.’.. Ryzhov like to use the old KGB liquid euphemism for executions.
1980 J. Gardner Garden of Weapons ii. vii. 191 He had seen men killed: and killed them himself: he had directed ‘wet operations’, as they used to be called.
6. † b. (a) with a wet finger: easily, with little effort. Also (b) readily, without hesitation; (c) slightly, lightly. Obsolete.Perhaps from the practice of wetting the first or second finger on one's tongue in order to facilitate turning over the leaves of a book or to rub out writing on a slate. Cf. quots. 1721 at sense 6a, 1839 at sense 6a.(b)1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. F6 The broker wil giue mony for them, with a wet finger.1604 T. Dekker & T. Middleton Honest Whore i. ii. 4 If euer I stand in neede of a wench that will come with a wet finger.(c)1586 Praise of Musicke vii. 79 To let passe all generalities which I touched before with a wet finger.1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 45 The slightnesse and slendernesse of his Answeres, with a wet finger (as we say) passing by the manifold allegations produced.
a. Made moist or damp by dipping in, or sprinkling or smearing with, water or other liquid.Frequently of new-printed matter (newspapers or books), esp. in the phrase wet from the press.
ΘΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > [adjective] > made wet > by dipping, sprinkling, or smearing
wet1390
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 264 Tho lay ther certein wode cleft, Of which the pieces nou and eft Sche made hem in the pettes wete, And put hem in the fyri hete.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) vii. lxiv. 280 The water slydeth of as it were of a wete hyde.
c1430 Two Cookery-bks. 48 Wete þin dyssche in þe hony, & with þe wete dyssche ley þe malmenye & þe cofyns.
1432–50 tr. Higden I. 267 Then the white neckes schalle be humectate or made weiete with golde.
c1450 Mirk's Festial 191 Byd hym goo ynto þe chirch, and se how al þe pament ȝet ys wete of þe holy watyr.
1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 18 Do we not see..weekly that continu'd Court-libell..Printed, as the wet sheets can witnes, and dispers't among us for all that licencing can doe?
1721 E. Ward Merry Travellers: Pt. I 3 Then a wet Finger does its Duty, And robs the Bar-board of its beauty.
1754 Connoisseur No. 29. ⁋1 I snatch up the favourite sheets wet from the press and devour every syllable.
1798 S. T. Coleridge Recantation xx With the morning's wet newspaper.
1804 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 12 494 It should be afterwards cleaned with a wet sponge.
1835 New Monthly Mag. 44 337 Just published, and wet from the press, ‘The Stranger's Guide through Little Pedlington’.
1838 C. Dickens Mem. Grimaldi I. vii. 186 No sooner did they arrive wet from the press, than men on horseback were immediately despatched with them to Canterbury.
1839 T. De Quincey Lake Reminiscences in Tait's Edinb. Mag. July 458/1 Wordsworth's habits of using books..were not vulgar; not the habits of those who turn over the page by means of a wet finger.
1850 F. K. Hunt Fourth Estate II. 220 Just as the wet Newspaper, fresh from the News~boy, is being opened at the eight o'clock breakfast table.
1859 E. FitzGerald tr. Rubáiyát Omar Khayyám xxxvi. 8 I watch'd the Potter thumping his wet Clay.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > easy, easily, or without difficulty [phrase]
with a wet finger1542
for the whistling1546
like a bird1825
as easy (or simple) as falling (or rolling) off a log1839
without tears1857
like a dream1882
as easy as winking1907
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > small of quantity, amount, or degree [phrase] > slightly or superficially
with a wet finger1542
the mind > will > wish or inclination > willingness > [adverb] > readily or promptly
rifea1275
fastlyc1275
gradelya1300
rada1325
readya1325
wellc1325
readilyc1330
fast1477
with a wet finger1542
forwardly1552
like one o'clock1847
up1870
like a shot1885
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes To Rdr. *iv A large and plain table..whereby..to any good matier in the booke conteined, readie waye and recourse maye with a weat fynger easily bee found out.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. ix. sig. Lv With a wet fynger ye can fet, As muche as maie easily all this matter ease.
1589 Rare Triumphes Loue & Fortune iii. sig. C.iv And I can finde, One with a wet finger that is starke blinde.
1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 2 I hate brawles with my hart: and can turne-ouer A volume of wronges with a wett finger.
1600 Wisdome Doctor Dodypoll iii. sig. E3v Flo. Canst thou bring me thither? Pea[sant]. With a wet finger sir.
1644 D. Featley Roma Ruens 5 I could with a wet finger produce divers decrees of Popes..flat repugnant one to the other.
1690 C. Ness Compl. Hist. & Myst. Old & New Test. I. 293 How easily..even with a wet finger, (as we say) could God..have overturned Jacob.
1728 Street-robberies, Consider'd 47 When our Tryal came on, we got clear with a wet Finger, as the Folks say.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa V. viii. 91 If thou likest her, I'll get her for thee with a wet finger, as the saying is!
1754 S. Foote Knights i. 15 If Dame Winifred was here, she'd make 'em all out with a wet Finger; but they are above me.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian xi, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. I. 329 If we could but find ony ane to say she had gi'en the least hint o' her condition, she wad be brought aff wi' a wat finger.
c. in other proverbial expressions.to cover oneself with a wet sack: see to cover oneself with a wet sack at sack n.1 3a.
Π
1553 R. Horne tr. J. Calvin Certaine Homilies i. sig. C.iiijv Thinkinge that he is escaped when he is covered, as the common saing is, vndre a wett sack.
1578 H. Wotton tr. J. Yver Courtlie Controuersie 61 For so many pleasures vanished, as an Ele through a wette hande.
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 340/2 Therefore the Papists couer them selues with a wet sack, when they say [etc.].
1616 T. Draxe Bibliotheca Scholastica 218 He holdeth a wet eele by the taile.
a1651 D. Calderwood Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1843) II. 404 Where they alledge we sould have beene occasioun to caus our sonne follow his father hastilie, they cover themselves theranent with a wett seck.
1674 Let. from Gentleman of Romish Relig. 32 There being no more hold of them than of a wet Eel by the tail.
d. to come with a wet sail: to make swift progress to victory, like a ship with sails wetted in order to keep close to the wind.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > race [verb (intransitive)] > in specific manner
to make (all) the running1824
stay1834
sprint1841
to come with a wet sail1876
to stay the course1885
to sit in1952
1876 Coursing Cal. 326 Westeria, coming with a wet sail, rushed by and ultimately killed.
1901 Daily Express 18 Mar. 8/1 Bury, who were expected to come with a wet sail, went down before their local rivals at Bolton.
7. Of timber: Full of sap, unseasoned.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [adjective] > seasoned > not
greena1325
wetc1405
sour1572
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1480 And as it queynte, it made a whistlynge As doon thise weete brondes in hir brennynge.
1468–9 in C. L. Kingsford Stonor Lett. & Papers (1919) I. 103 Let not hit be wete tymbyr in hond.
1900 Hueffer in Academy 18 Aug. 127/2 The wet-wood smoke drives us winking blind.
1906 H. Van Dyke Ideals xii. 266 Wet wood will not burn.
8. Of paint, varnish, ink: Not yet dry, sticky, liable to smudge.
ΘΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > semi-fluidity > [adjective] > not dry (of paint, varnish, or ink)
wet1519
1519 W. Horman Vulgaria viii. f. 80v Blottynge papyr serueth to drye weete wryttynge lest there be made blottis or blurris.
1552–3 in A. Feuillerat Documents Office of Revels Edward VI (1914) 139 For drying of stayning paynting and other wett pasted and mowlded woorkes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) v. iii. 81 The ruddinesse vpon her Lippe, is wet: You'le marre it, if you kisse it. View more context for this quotation
1850 D. M. Mulock Olive (1890) xx. 157 Ha! don't come near my picture. The paint's wet. Get away.
1883 M. E. James How to Decorate 19 Remember that tempera is many shades lighter when it is dry than when it is wet.
1914 ‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions (1916) vii. 50 The younger girl wiped a foot of wet paint off the coaming of a hatch, and said sweetly it didn't matter in the least.
9. Fortification. Of a ditch: Containing water.For the sense cf. wet dock n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > [adjective] > of ditch: containing water
wet1590
1590 R. Williams Briefe Disc. Warre 50 No drie ditch can bee compared for strength vnto a wet ditch.
1813 Ann. Reg., App. to Chron. 130 The whole of the fortification is surrounded by a wet ditch.
1869 H. F. Tozer Res. Highlands of Turkey II. 193 The citadel is separated from the mainland by a wet ditch of artificial construction.
10. Of fish:
a. Cured with salt or brine.
ΘΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [adjective] > cured > cured with salt or brine
wet1580
1580 R. Hitchcock Pollitique Platt a iv Twentie thousande of the beste and middle sort of wette fishe (at the leaste) called blanckfishe, and tenne thousande drie fishe.
c1580 in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1914) July 523 Wett newland fishe, ye c, 1 li. Drye fishe, the hondert, 0 li. 10 sh.
1708 London Gaz. No. 4421/7 The Cargo of the Prize-Ship Margaret of Nantz, consisting of about 11000 Wett, or Mud-fish.
1883 Great Internat. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 64 The preparation of white herrings..consists of packing the fish in salt, which soon turns to brine, and this method of preparation is termed the ‘wet cure’.
b. Fresh, not dried.
ΘΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [adjective] > not dried
wet1851
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 62/2 All fresh fish is ‘wet’; all cured or salted fish, ‘dry’.
1899 Daily News 14 Jan. 5/1 The inexpensive kinds of fish are cod, hake, skate, sprats, and ‘wet’ haddock.
11. Of confections: Preserved in syrup; of a syrupy nature. Of surgical or natural-history specimens: Bottled in spirits.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preserving or pickling > [adjective] > preserved in sugar > specifically in syrup
wet1612
1612 Sc. Bk. Rates in Halyburton's Ledger (1867) 312 Wett confectionis—Preserved barbareis..Marmalad [etc.].
1686 tr. J. Chardin Trav. Persia 259 Sweat-meats Dry and Wet, upon small Porcelaine Plates.
1836 C. P. Traill Backwoods of Canada 46 The American Crab, these beautiful little scarlet apples so often met with as a wet preserve among our sweetmeats at home.
1867 H. Latham Black & White 87 The ‘wet specimens,’ those bottled in spirits.
1891 Cent. Dict. Wet preparation, a specimen of natural history immersed in alcohol.
12. Of measure: Used for liquid articles. ? Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > [adjective] > used for liquids
wet1597
1597 J. Skene De Verborum Significatione at Gangiatores Al measures, & weichts, baith dry & weete.
1622 G. de Malynes Consuetudo i. iv. 39 The Romanes in times past, called the wet Measure by Ounces, as wee doe the weight.
1638 L. Roberts Merchants Mappe of Commerce ii. 238 Wet Measures are also derived from this pound Troy.
13. Medicine.figurative.c1864 J. B. Paton in Life (1914) 85 We cannot submit to have these men..wrapped in the eternal wet-sheet of a monastic college.
a. Designating certain diseases which are characterized by moist secretions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > discharge or flux > [adjective] > characterized by
waterya1400
wet1566
humid1813
moist1876
1566 T. Blundeville Order curing Horses Dis. f. 46, in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe I cal it the wet coughe, bycause the horse in his coughing, will voyde moystye matter at his mouth.
1566 T. Blundeville Order curing Horses Dis. f. 92v, in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe Of the wette Spauen, or through Spauen.
1898 P. Manson Trop. Dis. xiv. 232 The paralytic-atrophic cases are designated ‘dry beriberi’ or beriberi atrophica; the dropsical cases, ‘wet beriberi’ or beriberi hydrops.
1899 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Wet brain, Wet scald, Wet tetter.
b. wet cup n. and v. (wet cupping) see wet cupping at cupping n. 1.
ΚΠ
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 175 Wet-cupping the loins to the extent of several ounces may be of service.
1901 W. A. N. Dorland Med. Dict. (ed. 2) 761/1 Wet-cup, a cupping-glass to be used after scarification.
c. Designating various modes of hydropathic treatment, as in wet bandage, wet compress, wet pack, wet packing, wet sheet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatments using water > [adjective]
wet1843
1843 C. Scudamore Med. Visit Gräfenberg 16 Wet Bandages.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Bk. Snobs xxx. 116 The former had a wet compresse around her body.
1859 J. Smedley Pract. Hydropathy 43 Wet packs may be repeated several times in the space of twelve hours.
1870 J. Smedley Pract. Hydropathy (ed. 12) Body bandage or wet compress.
1874 J. C. Bucknill & D. H. Tuke Man. Psychol. Med. (ed. 3) 754 The Wet Sheet or Wet Pack..acts as an energetic sudorific.
1874 J. S. Blackie On Self-culture 51 The wet sheet packing, one of the most bruited of the hydropathic appliances.
1899 T. C. Allbutt Syst. Med. VIII. 160 Wet sheets, packs, sitz-baths, and douches are of great value.
14. colloquial.
a. Primed with liquor; more or less intoxicated. (Cf. wet v. 7b.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk
fordrunkenc897
drunkena1050
cup-shottenc1330
drunka1400
inebriate1497
overseenc1500
liquor1509
fou1535
nase?1536
full1554
intoxicate1554
tippled1564
intoxicated1576
pepst1577
overflown1579
whip-cat1582
pottical1586
cup-shota1593
fox-drunk1592
lion-drunk1592
nappy1592
sack-sopped1593
in drink1598
disguiseda1600
drink-drowned1600
daggeda1605
pot-shotten1604
tap-shackled1604
high1607
bumpsy1611
foxed1611
in one's cups1611
liquored1611
love-pot1611
pot-sick1611
whift1611
owl-eyed1613
fapa1616
hota1616
inebriated1615
reeling ripea1616
in one's (or the) pots1618
scratched1622
high-flown?1624
pot-shot1627
temulentive1628
ebrious1629
temulent1629
jug-bitten1630
pot-shaken1630
toxed1635
bene-bowsiea1637
swilled1637
paid1638
soaken1651
temulentious1652
flagonal1653
fuddled1656
cut1673
nazzy1673
concerned1678
whittled1694
suckey1699
well-oiled1701
tippeda1708
tow-row1709
wet1709
swash1711
strut1718
cocked1737
cockeyed1737
jagged1737
moon-eyed1737
rocky1737
soaked1737
soft1737
stewed1737
stiff1737
muckibus1756
groggy1770
muzzeda1788
muzzya1795
slewed1801
lumpy1810
lushy1811
pissed1812
blue1813
lush1819
malty1819
sprung1821
three sheets in the wind1821
obfuscated1822
moppy1823
ripe1823
mixed1825
queer1826
rosined1828
shot in the neck1830
tight1830
rummy1834
inebrious1837
mizzled1840
obflisticated1840
grogged1842
pickled1842
swizzled1843
hit under the wing1844
obfusticatedc1844
ebriate1847
pixilated1848
boozed1850
ploughed1853
squiffy?1855
buffy1858
elephant trunk1859
scammered1859
gassed1863
fly-blown1864
rotten1864
shot1864
ebriose1871
shicker1872
parlatic1877
miraculous1879
under the influence1879
ginned1881
shickered1883
boiled1886
mosy1887
to be loaded for bear(s)1888
squiffeda1890
loaded1890
oversparred1890
sozzled1892
tanked1893
orey-eyed1895
up the (also a) pole1897
woozy1897
toxic1899
polluted1900
lit-up1902
on (also upon) one's ear1903
pie-eyed1903
pifflicated1905
piped1906
spiflicated1906
jingled1908
skimished1908
tin hat1909
canned1910
pipped1911
lit1912
peloothered1914
molo1916
shick1916
zigzag1916
blotto1917
oiled-up1918
stung1919
stunned1919
bottled1922
potted1922
rotto1922
puggled1923
puggle1925
fried1926
crocked1927
fluthered1927
lubricated1927
whiffled1927
liquefied1928
steamed1929
mirackc1930
overshot1931
swacked1932
looped1934
stocious1937
whistled1938
sauced1939
mashed1942
plonked1943
stone1945
juiced1946
buzzed1952
jazzed1955
schnockered1955
honkers1957
skunked1958
bombed1959
zonked1959
bevvied1960
mokus1960
snockered1961
plotzed1962
over the limit1966
the worse for wear1966
wasted1968
wired1970
zoned1971
blasted1972
Brahms and Liszt?1972
funked up1976
trousered1977
motherless1980
tired and emotional1981
ratted1982
rat-arsed1984
wazzed1990
mullered1993
twatted1993
bollocksed1994
lashed1996
1709 M. Prior Poems Several Occasions 90 When my lost Lover the tall Ship ascends, With Musick Gay, and wet with Jovial Friends.
1834 S. T. Coleridge Table-talk 20 Jan. Some men are like musical glasses;—to produce their finest tones, you must keep them wet.
b. Addicted to drink.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > alcoholic or addicted to drinking
drunkensomea1300
drunkelew1362
drunksomec1475
drunken1548
boozing1569
boozy1592
bousy1592
moisty1593
unsober1611
upsy-friesy1617
moist1619
sottish1632
swilling1633
bibacious1663
intemperate1680
swill-bellied1680
swill-down1693
wet1699
potative1737
compotatory1817
alcoholic1845
drinking1856
bibulous1861
on the drink1865
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Wet-Quaker, a Drunkard of that Sect.
c1713 in G. A. Aitken R. Steele (1889) I. 395 It's a very wet town, and the voters are wet too.
1825 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words Wet-hand, a drunken person.
1900 ‘R. Guthrie’ Kitty Fagan 207 It might keep some o' the wet hands oot o' the pub.
c. transferred.
ΚΠ
1592 T. Nashe Pierce Penilesse (Brit. Libr. copy) sig. E4 Those that keepe a wette corner for a friend, and will not thinke scorne to drinke with a good fellowe and a Souldiour.
1805 W. Windham Speeches Parl. (1812) II. 271 The recruit took the condition of a soldier, with a guinea to make it a wet bargain.
1824 W. Irving Club Queer Fellows ii, in Tales of Traveller His jokes, it must be confessed, were rather wet, but they suited the circle over which he presided.
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xi. 93 As he knew he should have a wet night, it was agreed that he might gallop back again in time for church on Sunday morning.
1905 H. A. Vachell Hill iii. 49 Some of us had a wet night of it, last night.
15. colloquial.in extended use.1831 W. Irving Life & Lett. (1864) II. 461 Mine host, the Rev. C. R. Reaston Rodes..is a kind of wet parson, if I may borrow that phrase from the Quakers.1855 J. H. Newman Callista (1856) vi. 48 Agellius is but a wet Christian;..not obstinate, like his brother there.1876 in Marchioness of Dufferin Canad. Jrnl. (1891) 295 I believe our one friend here is a ‘wet’ Mormon, and at his house, where we spent the evening, we only met one-wifed men.1981 Observer 26 July 12/3 The term ‘Wet’ was originally used by Mrs Thatcher, who meant it in the old sense of ‘soppy’, as in ‘What do you mean the unions won't like it, Jim? Don't be so wet.’ It meant feeble, liable to take the easy option, lacking intellectual and political hardness. Like so many insults, it was gleefully adopted by its victims, and so came by its present meaning of liberal, leftish, anti-ideological.1982 Listener 23 Dec. 6/3 In considering the promotion of wet (or wettish) Ministers, she will tell herself that Pope was right.1983 Age (Melbourne) 5 Oct. 13 Britain's Tory Prime Minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, began this vogue terminology by contemptously dismissing dewy-eyed dissenters from her arid Right-wing policies as ‘wet’.
a. Of a Quaker: Not very strict in the observances of his sect. (See also 14b.)
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Quakerism > [adjective] > not strict
wet1700
1700 T. Brown Amusem. Serious & Comical iii. 30 Would you buy any Naked Truth, or Light in a Dark-Lanthorn? Look in the Wet-Quakers Walk.
a1708 T. Ward England's Reformation (1710) ii. 44 Quakers, and Wet-Quakers, or Merry-ones.
1785 G. A. Bellamy Apol. Life (ed. 3) I. xiii. 78 I had not indeed dressed myself with the studied formality of a rigid Quaker, but only so plain and neat as to entitle me to the denomination of a wet Quaker; a distinction that arises chiefly from the latter's wearing ribbands, gauzes, and laces.
1838 Bentley's Misc. 4 297 Who has not heard of..a wet Quaker? who thees and yays, wears no collar to his coat..; but is in other respects..living that sort of life which, in England, is called that of a jolly dog.
1839 F. Marryat Diary in Amer. I. 255 Mr. Buffum..was dressed as what is termed a wet Quaker.
1866 T. Carlyle in J. W. Carlyle Lett. & Mem. (1883) II. 53 An enthusiastic young ‘Wet-Quaker’.
b. Inept, ineffectual, effete; also as quasi-adv. and in combination wet fish, a wet individual, a ‘drip’. Also spec. in Politics (see quots. 1981, 1983). Cf. wet n.1 6.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > British party politics > [adjective] > conservative > of Tories or conservatives > types of
tantivy1681
high Tory1682
roary1682
Tory-Radical1823
true blue1827
Tory Democratic1836
Eldonine1855
Eldonian1898
wet1981
1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin ii. 27 I'll give yer a clip 'longside the ear'ole if you ain't careful. Don't act so wet.
1924 P. Marks Plastic Age 94 They attended a performance of Shaw's ‘Candida’ given by the Dramatic Society and voted it a ‘wet’ show.
1924 P. Marks Plastic Age 192 A man is wet if he isn't a ‘regular guy’; he is wet if he isn't ‘smooth’; he is wet if he has intellectual interests..; and he is wet..if he is utterly stupid.
1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart ii. iv. 239 Cecil is so wet! Coming early like that, then sticking round like that.
1944 A. Christie Towards Zero 86 Audrey marry that wet fish? She's a lot too good for that.
1963 Amer. Speech 38 173 An unattractive female date... Ugliness..ranges from such general terms as beast..to the more specific bear, cow, goose, moose, roach.., squirrel, and wet fish.
1969 K. Amis Green Man iv. 180 The Jesus of the Gospels can be a bit of a wet liberal at times.
1973 P. O'Donnell Silver Mistress iv. 74 Don't talk wet, Jan. There's nothing you could do.
1980 Times Lit. Suppl. 28 Nov. 1355/2 The contrast between the splendid façade and the rather wet interior of the man [sc. Havelock Ellis], who was kind and gentle and distinguished, but also distressingly absent, indifferent and faint.
c. all wet: mistaken, completely wrong. Originally and chiefly U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > an error, mistake > [adjective] > greatly
all wet1923
way out1959
1923 N.Y. Times 9 Sept. vii. 2/1 All wet, all wrong.
1931 Kansas City (Missouri) Times 29 Aug. Alfalfa Bill Murray may be ‘all wet’ in his state-line bridge and oil production controversies.
1940 G. Ade Let. 5 June (1973) 221 Regarding the Rotary Clubs, I..am an honorary member. I think the organization is alright and that Sinclair Lewis was all wet when he tried to poke fun at the small town booster.
1941 E. B. White Lett. (1976) 216 I haven't had much time to think things over and I am probably all wet on a lot of things in here.
1951 A. Baron Rosie Hogarth 282 You're all wet if you think I'm giving up that easy.
Categories »
d. wet behind the ears: see ear n.1 Phrases 1b(b).
16.
a. Consisting of alcoholic liquor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > [adjective]
sprighty1609
spirituous1653
Panomphaean1694
wet1779
alcoholic1799
Panomphic1822
spiritual1826
panomphaic1878
1779 Remembrancer 8 277 Saturday last arrived here from Cadiz, a polacre, with a large and general assortment of dry and wet goods.
1837 J. Cottle Early Recoll. I. 320 I think he carries on a snug business in the smuggling line, and..is on the look-out for some wet cargo.
1882 Daily News 31 Jan. 2/1 The central office for ‘wet goods’, i.e. wines and spirits.
1884 Chambers's Jrnl. 26 Jan. 58/2 Casks of vinous liquors, technically known as ‘wet goods’.
b. Concerned with the sale and consumption of alcoholic liquor.
ΘΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > providing or serving drink > [adjective] > concerned in supplying liquor
wet1892
1892 Daily News 7 Apr. 3/6 Dividing the receipts at the music-halls..as they are named in the trade ‘Wet Money’ and ‘Dry Money’ [i.e. money paid for refreshments, and for admission].
1899 H. Wyndham Queen's Service 97 Canteens..are known as either ‘wet’ or ‘dry’. In the former, beer, porter, and stout, but no spirits, are sold.
1899 H. Wyndham Queen's Service 98 The hours during which ‘wet’ Canteens are open.
1913 R. H. Gretton Mod. Hist. Eng. People I. 90 Whereas at ports the customs arrangement allowed ‘bonding’ on a large scale, there was no such possibility in inland towns, except in some ‘wet’ trades.
c. Originally and chiefly U.S. Permitting the sale of alcoholic liquor: accepting or adhering to this as a principle; opposed to the prohibition of the liquor traffic. Hence as quasi-adv. in to go or vote wet. Cf. dry adj. 11a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > providing or serving drink > [adjective] > permitting
wet1871
the world > food and drink > drink > providing or serving drink > [verb (intransitive)] > permit liquor
to go or vote wet1871
1871 Scribner's Monthly 1 63 Dry or wet, Mr. Dort? Indifferent, eh? Adolph, a hock-glass.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. liv. 350 Some States, e.g. Georgia, have adopted a local option system, under which each county decides whether it will be ‘wet’ or ‘dry’ (e.g. [sic] permit or forbid the sale of intoxicants).
1888 North Amer. (Philadelphia) 3 Apr. 1/1 Forty-nine counties have voted ‘dry’, and thirty-three ‘wet’... Thirteen of twenty towns went ‘dry’, and seven ‘wet’.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 20 May 12/1 A map of the United States, with prohibition States white, licence States black, and States partly ‘dry’ and partly ‘wet’ under local option indicated by shading.
1919 H. L. Wilson Ma Pettengill 36 Like a cow~hand with three month's pay hitting a wet town.
1954 K. Amis Lucky Jim 109 The still recent tradition of a ‘wet’ Summer Ball.
1974 Times 7 Oct. 4/1 Flintshire, Radnorshire, Breconshire..voted to go wet.
1974 Times 7 Oct. 4/2 That poll ended the curious situation of one inn which straddled on the wet-dry border... The public bar was dry and empty, but the lounge bar was wet and crowded.
d. absol. or quasi-n. (from preceding sense).
ΘΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > providing or serving drink > [noun] > inn or tavern keeping > innkeeper > opposed to prohibition
wet1888
1888 Battle Creek (Mich.) Weekly Jrnl. 29 Feb. This is the first great victory for the ‘wets’.
1896 Chicago Record 11 Feb. 6/5 Even though there might be some precincts where the ‘wets’ outnumbered the ‘drys’—yet the whole county would go dry.
1906 Mission Field Aug. 144 The ‘wets’ would carry such cities as Guthrie, Oklahoma City and Shawnee.
1919 Blackwood's Mag. Nov. 657/1 The party calling themselves ‘The Wets’ still believed that the President would intervene to avert such legislation.
1920 A. G. Gardiner Windfalls 17 The wasp..shares man's weakness for beer. In the language of America, he is a ‘wet’.
1968 Daily Tel. 8 Nov. 1/4 The ‘wets’ gained three counties..in the Welsh referendum on Sunday drinking.
17.
a. Designating various technical processes or operations.
Π
1807 A. Aikin & C. R. Aikin Dict. Chem. & Mineral. II. 427 Tin is soluble in acid of tartar, and this solution is of importance in manufacture, as it is the method by which wet tinning is performed on copper and brass.
1854 C. Tomlinson Obj. Art-Manuf.: Paper 24 The paper..is subjected to a second pressure, called wet pressing, by which a further portion of the water is got rid of.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany 6 The wet collodion process.
1878 W. de W. Abney Treat. Photogr. vii. 50 The following are collodions..for the wet process.
1882 Imperial Dict. Wet-puddling, in metallurgy, pig-boiling.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 989 The dangers consequent upon the manufacture of arsenic have been much diminished..by what is technically known as the ‘wet method’.
b. Designating chemical tests and analysis involving the use of solvents or other liquids; = humid adj. c; so wet-chemical adj. Cf. way n.1 17c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical tests > [adjective] > of the wet method
wet1800
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [adjective] > of or relating to named chemical reactions or processes > of or relating to miscellaneous other processes
caking1727
neutralizing1784
humid1800
regenerated1874
aluminothermic1900
buffered1917
olated1931
oxo1945
wet-chemical1967
1800 tr. E. J. B. Bouillon-Lagrange Man. Course Chem. I. 398 Analysis by the wet way.
1858 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 16 331 This method is particularly adapted..when the substances of this group occur in so small quantities that they are no longer recognizable in the wet way.
1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 70/2 A convenient wet-way method for small quantities is to boil the recently precipitated chloride..with caustic soda-ley.
1932 F. Soddy Interpr. Atom xv. 253 Almost all the ordinary chemical tests for the common elements, by which they are identified in the ordinary reactions of ‘wet’ analysis, are not tests for the elements, but for their ions.
1967 Electronics 6 Mar. 29 (advt.) You can be sure of a complete refinery service... Including, under one roof..laboratory facilities for wet chemical analysis and electrolytic methods of analysis.
1973 Nature 8 June 365/1 Since the Second World War, physical methods of analysis..have increasingly displaced wet chemistry from the industrial routine analytical laboratory.
1977 New Scientist 17 Feb. 384/1 Traditional methods of detecting nitrogen oxides as air pollutants monitor the change in colour of an acid permanganate solution as the oxides are absorbed. These wet-chemical methods..require relatively large samples of gases.
18. Nautical. Of a vessel: Liable to ship water over the bows or gunwale.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel with reference to qualities or attributes > [adjective] > liable to ship water
wet1832
1832 F. Marryat Newton Forster I. x. 132 She was what sailors term rather a wet one, and..the sea broke continually over her bows.
1884 W. C. Russell Jack's Courtship xvii The Strathmore..had the reputation of being a very fast sailer, though what is termed a wet ship.
1891 M. Roberts Land-travel & Sea-faring 9 The Seringapatam was a very ‘wet ship’, that is, she was very much inclined to ship heavy seas.
19. Of natural gas: containing significant amounts of the vapour of higher hydrocarbons.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > gas or types of gas > [adjective]
lean1924
wet1926
liquefied1930
sweet1950
1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 18 July 16/7 Wet gas flow of 3,000,000 feet a day was struck at McLeod No. 2 well in Turner Valley last night.
1948 Petroleum Handbk. (Shell Petroleum Co. Ltd.) (ed. 3) ix. 154 Gases produced in contact with oil can be either ‘dry’ or ‘wet’, depending on the nature of the crude oil and the method of separating the gas from the oil.
1982 Shell Briefing Service No. 5. 5/2 LPG is essentially a mixture of propane and butane stored at ambient temperature under moderate pressure. It can be derived from the gas associated with crude oil or from ‘wet’ natural gas directly at the well.
Compounds
C1. In combination with past participles.
a. Predicative.
wet-crushed adj.
Π
1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 419 The cost of drying the wet-crushed ore.
wet-picked adj.
Π
1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 225/2 It [esparto] is again ‘wet-picked’ after boiling.
wet-plucked adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > preparation of fowls > [adjective] > plucked whilst wet
wet-plucked1960
1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 19 Jan. (Suppl.) 41/3 At slaughter the birds are all..wet-plucked by machine and then eviscerated.
1969 R. Adlard in R. Blythe Akenfield xiv. 234 The feathers are no use because the chickens [in factory farms] are wet-plucked, so there is only a mess.
wet salted adj.
Π
1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 274/1 Hides brought to the tannery in this condition are known as ‘wet salted’.
wet situated adj.
Π
1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. iv. iv. 412 When clay land is wet situated.
wet spun adj.
Π
1901 Scotsman 1 Apr. 11/1 The demand for wet spun yarns.
wet woaded adj.
Π
1660 T. Fuller Mixt Contempl. i. xlix. 76 What may be the cause why so much cloth so soon changeth colour? It is because it was never wet wadded, which giveth the fixation to a colour.
b. Parasynthetic.
wet-bottomed adj.
Π
1812 J. Sinclair Acct. Syst. Husbandry Scotl. i. 222 Wet-bottomed land.
1886 C. Scott Pract. Sheep-farming 89 Much wet-bottomed land..is ill suited for rearing lambs.
wet-eyed adj.
Π
1820 L. Hunt in Indicator 22 Nov. 53 Never woman [came] for redress, And went away wet-eyed.
1892 T. Hardy Tess (ed. 5) xl. 346 He knelt down at the bedside wet-eyed.
wet-feeted adj.
Π
1864 C. Dickens Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy i, in All Year Round Extra Christmas No., 1 Dec. 4/2 It was in vain for me to..tell him he'd be..wet-feeted to death by the slop and mess.
wet-footed adj.
Π
1833 T. Hood Public Dinner 174 Wet-footed, spoilt-beaver'd,..You haste home to supper.
1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain i. vi She has come home wet-footed and cold.
wet-lipped adj.
Π
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. IV 232 The wet-lipped west wind.
wet mouthed adj.
Π
1951 D. Thomas Let. in Sel. Lett. (1966) 352 [Fresh recruits] see before them in the hot moonlight wetmouthed Persian girls from the bazaar.
C2. Special collocations (see also 13). † wet cloth n. Obsolete cloth that has been wetted in the process of fulling. † wet glover n. Obsolete (see glover n.1 2).† wet larder n. Obsolete one where moist or liquid provisions were stored.† wet-salter n. Obsolete (in contrast to drysalter n.).
wet bar n. North American a bar or counter in a private house from which alcoholic drinks are served.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > drinking place > [noun] > tap-room or bar > in private house
wet bar1968
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 15 Jan. 23/6 (advt.) Panelled family room, games room, wet bar. Real executive home!
1978 R. Thomas Chinaman's Chance xx. 206 Ploughman turned to find Reginald Simms standing by a small wet bar across the room.
wet bargain n. (see bargain n.1 7).
wet bob n. [Bob n.7] a boy at Eton who devotes himself to boating; also gen.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [noun] > pupil at specific school > types of pupil at Eton
oppidan1557
servitor1819
sextile1821
dry-bob1844
tug1864
tug-mutton1864
wet bob1865
non-nant1869
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > boat racing or race > [noun] > types of rowing race > oarsman > devotee
wet bob1865
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > boat racing or race > [noun] > types of rowing race > oarsman > devotee > at Eton
wet bob1865
1865 W. L. Collins Etoniana xi. 172 Of course a ‘dry-bob’ boats occasionally, and a ‘wet-bob’ plays cricket.
1872 Daily News 7 Aug. The ‘wetbobs’ of the Solent are not so absolutely the creatures of the weather office as the ‘drybobs’ of Canterbury.
1886 Sat. Rev. 27 Mar. 438/1 We are not even informed whether he is a wet bob or a dry bob.
1901 D. B. W. Sladen My Son Richard i Only on the river they have this much mutual respect for each other—each recognises that the other is a good wetbob.
wet bob v. (intransitive).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > boat racing or race > take part in boat racing or race [verb (intransitive)] > of boy at Eton: to devote himself to boating
wet bob1884
1884 J. Montagu Let. Mar. in L. Troubridge & ‘A. Marshall’ John Ld. Montagu of Beaulieu (1930) 31 I have been out wet-bobbing several times and am getting coached.
wet-bobbing n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > boat racing or race > [noun] > types of rowing race > oarsman > devotee > action of devoting oneself
wet-bobbing1901
1901 G. Frankau Eton Echoes 40 (heading) Wet Bobbing.
1926 Spectator 3 July 11/1 Any alternative summer game or sport..such as is provided by ‘wet-bobbing’ at a school like Eton.
wet-bulb n. designation of that one of the two thermometers of a psychrometer the bulb of which is covered with muslin, which is wetted at the time of observation so as to indicate the ‘temperature of evaporation’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > equipment or apparatus > [noun] > instruments
rammer1660
water hammer1765
saccharometer1784
thermometer1801
alcoholometer1803
alcohometer1809
cryophorus1813
nitrometer1821
alcoometer1825
alcoholmeter1831
blanchimeter1847
wet-bulb1849
absorptiometer1855
microtome1856
argentometer1879
Brix1897
Ostwald pycnometer1898
turbidimeter1905
Ostwald viscometer1911
oedometer1915
impinger1922
polarograph1925
photogoniometer1927
ultramicrotome1953
1849 E. B. Eastwick Dry Leaves 228 The wet-bulb Thermometer was generally 10° lower than the dry one till the beginning of June.
1916 Lancet 15 Jan. 142/2 A man..can do far more work with less fatigue at a low wet-bulb temperature than at a high one.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > treated or processed in specific way > [noun] > other
wet cloth1435
balk1841
kamptulicon1844
rougher1876
batch1911
Beaverette1922
tie-dye1926
permanent press1944
foamback1961
1435 Coventry Leet Bk. 172 No walker..Shall Rakke no Clothe on the Teyntur that schall be solde ffor wette-clothe.
1439 Rolls of Parl. V. 30/2 Mesurynge for the dosenne of wete Clothe xii yerdes and xii ynches, and of secce Clothe nought wete, xiiii yerdes and xiiii ynches.
wet cooper n. (see cooper n.1 1).
wet day n. Meteorology (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wet weather > [noun] > wet day > a day on which rain falls
rainy daya1398
rain day1901
wet day1919
1919 Brit. Rainfall 15 A Wet Day is a day ending at 9 h. (G. M. T.) on which 1 mm., or ·04 in., or more, of rain is recorded.
wet diggings n. originally U.S. gold diggings in or near a river or stream; cf. dry diggings n. at dry adj. and adv. Compounds 3.
ΚΠ
1849 J. Wyld Geogr. & Mineral. Notes 21 The works are divided into two classes,—Dry Diggings and Wet Diggings.
1862 J. L. C. Richardson Sketch Otago 48 See how the wet diggings will pay in the summer time.
1935 E. B. Buckbee Saga Old Tuolumne 11 He worked ceaselessly throughout the day lifting gold from the ‘wet diggings’.
1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. vii. 72/1 The conglomerates accumulated on the slopes of the mountains are the proper field for the ‘dry diggings’, while from the gravel and sand of the beds of rivers and smaller streams the gold is obtained by ‘wet diggings’.
wet dream n. an erotic dream which causes a man or boy to have an involuntary sexual orgasm during sleep; also figurative.
ΘΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > dream > [noun] > other specific types
gulf-dream1813
dreamlet1828
wet dream1851
dream sequence1893
wish-fulfilment1908
war dream1918
wish-dream1934
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > [noun] > ejaculation > involuntary during sleep
nocturnal pollution1650
nocturnal emission1821
wet dream1851
1851 W. Acton Dis. Urinary & Generative Organs (ed. 2) i. ii. 226 Spermatorrhœa..is known..as nocturnal or diurnal emissions, pollutions, wet-dreams, [etc.].
1921 H. Crane Let. 11 Feb. (1965) 53 The wet-dream explosions of Virgil Jordan and McAlmon. Their talk is all right—but what is true of it has been said adequately before.
1946 B. Marshall George Brown's Schooldays 170 Well, what are you standing there looking like a wet dream for?
1963 A. Heron Towards Quaker View of Sex ii. 16 It is at this stage that nocturnal emissions or ‘wet dreams’ as they are often called, are frequently the first clear sign of sexual maturity in the boy.
1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 10 Jesus, what a wet dream of a party that was!
1978 A. Neave Nuremberg viii. 86 He was said by the prosecution to have boasted to his chauffeur of nightly wet dreams and exhibited the semen to prove it.
wet-eared adj. = wet behind the ears at ear n.1 Phrases 1b(b).
ΘΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > unfamiliarity with, inexperience > [adjective]
unwistc1374
unknowna1393
ignorantc1475
imperfect1508
rawa1513
unskilfula1547
imperite?1550
illiterate1556
strange1561
unacquainted1565
green-headed1569
unacquainted1581
unacquaint1587
unfledged1603
inexperienced1626
guiltless1667
inexperient1670
unconversanta1674
unversed1675
uninitiated1678
a stranger to1697
uninitiate1801
inconversant1802
lay1821
griffish1836
wet behind the ears1851
neophytic1856
griffinish1860
experienceless1875
neophytish1897
wet-eared1967
1967 ‘E. McGirr’ Hearse with Horses iii. 50 If a race was fixed they wouldn't need a wet-eared kid mixed up with it.
1971 F. Forsyth Day of Jackal i. i. 21 Apart from a few wet-eared ninnies who refused to come, Rodin led his entire battalion into the military putsch of April 1961.
wet end n. that end of a paper-making or drying machine into which the wet material is passed.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > paper-making equipment > [noun] > machine > place for entry of wet material
wet end1888
1888 C. F. Cross & E. J. Bevan Text-bk. Paper-making x. 154 This part of the machine, which is called the ‘wet-end’, is placed at a slight slope.
1927 T. Woodhouse Artificial Silk: Manuf. & Uses iii. 25 The wet pulp is now run on to the feed end, usually termed the ‘wet~end’, of the drying machine.
1962 F. T. Day Introd. to Paper iv. 36 The beginning of the paper making machine is described as the ‘wet end’, whilst the other end of the machine, which consists of drying cylinders and paper finishing calenders, is called the ‘dry end’.
wet fly n. Angling (see quot. 1875); also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > wet fly
wet fly1875
1875 F. Francis in Encycl. Brit. II. 38/2 In the majority of instances it is the custom to let the tackle soak, and when fishing to allow the fly to sink a little under the surface—to fish with a ‘wet fly’, as it is called.
1904 W. M. Gallichan Fishing & Trav. Spain 207 The ordinary winged patterns used for wet-fly fishing.
wet frost n. a frost accompanied by damp air.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cold weather > [noun] > freezing or frosty weather > frost > specific types
black frosta1425
wet frost1832
radiation frost1889
ground frost1900
1832 W. Cobbett Rural Rides in Weekly Polit. Reg. 13 Oct. 74 Wall-fruit is, when destroyed in the spring, never destroyed by dry-cold; but, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, by wet-frosts.
Π
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 86/2 The Wett-Glover.
1704 Dict. Rusticum Wet-glover..is a Country Trade for the most part, answerable to the Tanner.
1724 London Gaz. No. 6249/7 Humphry Topping..Wet Glover.
ΘΠ
the world > food and drink > food > place for storing food > [noun] > for moist provisions
wet larder1544
1544 Inventory in Surrey Archæol. Coll. (1880) VII. 238 The dry larder... The Kechyn... The Whet larder. Itm in the Wett larder A musterd quern, iiij d.
1574 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories Archdeaconry Richmond (1853) 247 In the wett larder ii kymlinges, one trowghe.
1605 in Archaeologia 13 330 The Clarcke of the Kittchine..is to see into the wette and drie larders, what provisions there bee.
wet lease v. (transitive) .
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > buying > hiring or renting > hire [verb (transitive)] > an aircraft
charter1933
wet lease1962
1962 Aeroplane & Astronautics CII. 88/2 Philippine Air Lines has wet-leased (i.e., aircraft plus flight crew) a Boeing 707 from Pan American.
1977 Indian Express 18 May 1/2 The Airbus will be either wet leased or chartered by Air-India.
wet lease n. (see quot. 1979).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > buying > hiring or renting > [noun] > taking on rent or lease > lease > type of aircraft lease
wet lease1979
1979 Daily Tel. 8 June 36/6 Aircraft can be leased by the hour, day, week, month, quarterly or longer on a ‘dry’ lease which means that crews are not provided, or on a ‘wet’ lease which means that the owner of the aircraft also supplies crew and, in some cases, the necessary fuel.
wet-leased adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > buying > hiring or renting > [adjective] > leased in specific way
lend-leased1942
wet-leased1978
1978 Observer 29 Jan. 1/5 These too will have to be taken out of service for modifications, and their place taken by ‘wet leased’ foreign aircraft (that is, planes taken complete with their own crews).
wet leg n. slang a self-pitying person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > compassion > [noun] > self-pity > one who
wet leg1922
1922 D. H. Lawrence Let. ?12 Oct. (1962) II. 726 Being too much of a wet-leg, as they say in England, nakedly to enter into the battle.
1929 D. H. Lawrence Pansies 124 It is strange to think of the Annas, the Vronskys, the Pierres, all the Tolstoyan lot Wiped out... And the Tchekov wimbly-wambly wet-legs all wiped out.
1981 Times Lit. Suppl. 3 July 745/1 We know how much Auden hated wet-legs, how constantly he repeated his many litanies of his own good fortune.
wet look n. [look n. 4] an appearance of a wet or shiny surface; usually attributive, esp. of fabrics (see quot. 1968).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [adjective] > with glossy or shiny surface
satiné1827
glacé1847
wet look1968
1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 102 The ‘Wet Look’ is a chemical finish to fabrics to make them appear shiny and wet.
1969 Times 24 Nov. 16/2 Natural coloured python or wet-look patent are the most fashionable finishes for day.
1970 D. Uhnak Ledger (1971) ix. 114 Her lips, shining with a wet-look lipstick, quivered.
1971 Daily Tel. 2 Feb. 11 (caption) The chair and stool covered in white wet-look fabric.
1981 Westindian World 31 July 14/2 (advt.) Hot & cold straightening, curly perm, wet look.
wet meter n. a gas-meter in which the gas passes through a body of water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measuring instrument > [noun] > instrument measuring or recording automatically > specific
gas meter1815
wet meterc1865
slot-meter1899
motor meter1903
c1865 H. Letheby in J. Wylde Circle of Sci. I. 127/1 There are two objections to the wet meter, which are insurmountable.
1870 Cassell's Househ. Guide II. 17/2 The gas meters now in general use..are known as ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ meters.
wet pack n. a compact waterproof bag which folds or rolls up and is designed for carrying toilet articles.
ΘΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning or cleanliness of the person > [noun] > bag or case for toilet utensils
dressing box1607
toilet1728
toilet box1729
dressing case1778
toilet case1807
wet pack1928
Dopp kit1937
1928–9 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 419/1 Wet Pack. Fitted with comb and nail file, etc. Size closed, 51/ 2 × 41/ 2 in... Pigskin 12/–.
1974 Harrods Christmas Catal. 18/2 For travelling men... Two wet packs with waterproof linings.
wet plate n. Photography a sensitized collodion plate exposed in the camera while the collodion is moist; also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > plates and films > [noun] > plate > types of
screen plate1843
whole plate1850
quarter-plate1854
wet plate1859
stripping-film1885
gelatin dry plate1890
panchromatic1906
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany 123 Our camera, already charged with a wet plate.
1878 W. de W. Abney Treat. Photogr. xi. 77 Wet-plate photography.
wet-point adj. of villages, settlements, etc.: having an available water supply.
ΘΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town, village, or collection of dwellings > [noun] > other types of town or village
kirktownlOE
church town1548
pilgrimage town1889
wet-point1920
1920 M. Aurousseau in Geogr. Rev. 10 228 We have two special cases of arrangements governed by water supply—the extreme conditions giving rise to what we will term wet point villages and dry point villages.
1969 G. C. Dickinson Maps & Air Photographs xiv. 216 (heading) ‘Wet-point’ sites—i.e. places with an available water supply.
wet process n. a manufacturing process involving the use of water or other liquid; frequently attributive.
ΘΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > [noun] > processing > process involving liquid
wet process1909
1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Wet... Chem., etc. Employing, or done by means of, or in the presence of, water or other liquid... The wet process or way.
1930 Engineering 3 Jan. 18/3 The Assano Portland Cement Company's works at Nishitama. This is a wet-process plant.
1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes vii. 75 Study of product recovery processes as a whole (wet processes, physical methods).
1969 Nature 27 Dec. 1297/2 By-product gypsum formed during the wet process manufacture of phosphoric acid contains various impurities.
wet rent n. a levy paid to a brewery by a publican in a tied public house in proportion to the amount of beer sold (see also quot. 1907).
ΚΠ
1907 F. E. E. Bell At Wks. v. 122 Some of the yearly benefit clubs of which the head-quarters are at public-houses demand..an extra contribution, from 1d. to 3d., what is called the ‘wet rent’, which is quite deliberately allowed for drink each meeting-night.
1967 Economist 29 Apr. 480/2 The Jones board has implicitly accused the brewers of subsidising too many low volume country pubs, by charging less than the market rents but rather more for their beer, a practice known in the trade as a ‘wet rent’. In actual fact, wet rents are steadily becoming proportionately less important, and the brewer's idea is to protect the publican against the ups and downs of trade by charging him, in effect, a rent that varies slightly with beer sales, thus identifying his interest more closely with that of the brewer.
1978 Times 3 May 19/6 The brewers..continue phasing out ‘wet’ rents under which a tenant pays more or less to the brewery according to the amount of beer sold through the pub.
wet rot n. decay in timber caused by excessive moisture.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun] > decayed wood > decay in wood
dry rot1795
wet rot1864
dote1874
1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. viii. 73 Sparrows were there, cats were there, dry-rot and wet-rot were there.
1876 W. H. Preece & J. Sivewright Telegraphy 161 Wet-rot is the destructive agent at work more or less on all telegraph poles.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in other specific articles
ironmonger1164
ointer1263
bowyer1297
jewellera1382
fletcher1457
stapler1532
India merchant1618
tobacconist1657
colourman1663
tobacconer1701
lamp-man1704
drysalter1707
snuffman1723
wet-salter1725
potman1732
material man1778
tobacco-trader1840
dogman1860
stamp-dealer1863
waste-dealer1876
pearler1881
1725 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman I. viii. 98 The orange-merchants and wet-salters about Billingsgate.
wet shave n. a shave (shave n.2 2) carried out with the aid of a razor, soap, and water as opposed to a (usually electric) razor alone.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > [noun] > cutting or shaving > act of > a shave
shave1838
scrape1859
ocean wave1928
wet shave1976
1976 NBR Marketplace (Wellington, N.Z.) iii. 2/1 Something over 50 per cent of the estimated 900,000 regular shavers in New Zealand prefer a wet shave start to the day.
wet shaver n. someone who shaves by this method.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > [noun] > one who beautifies the hair > one who shaves or is shaved
shaverc1425
shavee1826
wet shaver1976
1976 NBR Marketplace (Wellington, N.Z.) iii. 2/3 About 94 per cent of wet shavers use the safety razor with double-edge blades or the modern single-edge blade systems.
wet shaving n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > [noun] > cutting or shaving > shaving with soap and water
wet shaving1964
1964 Financial Times 25 Feb. 11/8 The chief obstacle at present is the wet-shaving industry's promotion of the new stainless steel blades.
1980 ‘D. Kavanagh’ Duffy iii. 44 They only took the television set and his electric razor... He went back to wet shaving.
wet smack n. slang (chiefly U.S.) a spoil-sport.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [noun] > depressing quality > depressing thing, person, or circumstances
cloudc1430
palla1450
melancholya1475
downdraughta1681
Job's comforter1738
damper1748
killjoy1776
wet blanket1810
down-drag1814
chill1821
dismals1829
shadow1855
down1856
a skeleton at the feast (or banquet)1857
wet blanket1857
depressor1868
dampener1887
sorry-go-round1898
wet smack1927
bringdown1935
droopy drawers1939
big chill1943
party pooper1947
misery1951
party poop1951
grinch1966
downer1969
1927 Amer. Speech 3 221 Wet smack,..something unsatisfactory; applies particularly to an individual who spoils a party; a kill-joy.
1929 P. G. Wodehouse Mr. Mulliner Speaking i. 33 The man is beyond question a flat tyre and a wet smack.
1977 Maledicta Summer 17 If she is actually frigid, she's a wet smack.
wet spell n. Meteorology (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1919 Brit. Rainfall 15 A Wet Spell is a period of fifteen or more consecutive days, each one of which is a ‘Wet Day’.
wet-spin v. (transitive) .
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [verb (transitive)] > manufacture of man-made thread or yarn
melt-spin1950
wet-spin1963
1963 A. J. Hall Student's Handbk. Textile Sci. ii. 75 Some of these polymers are soluble in organic solvents..and thus allow the preparation of solutions which can be dry spun..or wet spun—that is, extruded into a coagulating bath.
1973 Materials & Technol. VI. iv. 328 Polyacrylonitrile solutions have been wet-spun..into a coagulating bath.
wet spinning n. (a) spinning of natural fibres when they are wet from passage through a water bath; (b) spinning of man-made fibres in which the spinneret extrudes the streams of liquid into a coagulating bath.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > specific material
spinning1753
wool-spinning1821
wet spinning1864
1864 A. J. Warden Linen Trade v. 697 Wet spinning differs chiefly from..dry spinning in having the spinning frame furnished with a receptacle for holding water.
1919 Brit. Manufacturer Nov. 27/1 The fibres are drawn out..before passing through a trough of warm water—which dissolves the gummy connecting matter and enables finer yarns to be produced—to be tightly twisted into yarn or thread. This is known as ‘wet-spinning’.
1927 T. Woodhouse Artificial Silk: Manuf. & Uses 28 The coagulation by means of liquid of any kind has given rise to the term ‘wet spinning’, whereas the term ‘dry-spinning’ has been applied in all cases where the solvent is vaporized.
1969 A. J. Hall Standard Handbk. Textiles (ed. 7) iii. 127 In wet spinning the roving is led through a trough of hot water..so that the fibres are softened.
wet-spun adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [adjective] > man-made > specific
trilobal1884
wet-spun1973
1973 Materials & Technol. VI. iv. 295 Another method of taking up the wet spun yarn.
wet steam n. (see quot.).
ΘΠ
the world > matter > gas > [noun] > fumes or vapour > water in the form of > steam > specific
wet steam1858
1858 R. Murray Marine Engines (ed. 3) 237 Wet steam is steam which holds watery particles in mechanical suspension.
wet strength n. the strength of paper and textiles when wet.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > paper > [noun] > specific qualities of
fabric1758
rattle1900
bulk1903
folding strength1936
wet strength1960
runnability1965
1960 R. W. Marks Dymaxion World Buckminster Fuller 59/1 Even in 1954 Kraft paper having exceptional ‘wet tensile strength’ had been developed—‘wet strength’ meaning the ability of the paper to retain its structural quality when saturated.
1962 J. T. Marsh Self-smoothing Fabrics xiv. 211 These examples of dimensional stability are of some consequence, and indeed of great consequence with fibres of regenerated cellulose whose low wet-strength is a serious defect but one which is remedied by the crease-resisting process.
1973 Nature 27 Apr. 588/1 Cross linking has been used for over thirty years in making ‘wet strength’ papers.
wetsuit n. a suit, usually of rubber, worn by divers, surfers, etc., to protect them from the cold.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > one-piece garment > [noun]
playsuit1609
romper1902
romper suit1904
diving-suit1908
bunting1914
teddy bear1917
leotard1920
Sidcot1921
sleeper1921
romper1922
pressure suit1923
boiler suit1928
maillot1928
mono1937
footy1938
all-in-one1939
siren suit1939
goonskin1943
anti-g suit1945
G-suit1945
jump suit1948
immersion suit1951
moon suit1953
poopy suit1953
dry suit1955
wetsuit1955
sleepsuit1958
Babygro1959
tank suit1959
cat-suit1960
penguin suit1961
unitard1961
bodysuit1963
shortall1966
steamer1982
1955 R. Carrier & B. Carrier Dive iv. 118 Rubber suits have been designed to protect the diver from the effects of cold water. There are two basic types..the ‘wet suit’ and the ‘dry suit’.
1964 Skin Diver Oct. 19 An American skin diver aboard an Irish fishing boat..had a difficult time convincing the skipper that his ‘wet’ suit would save a man's life if he fell into the freezing water.
1970 Daily Tel. 18 Sept. (Colour Suppl.) 12 On deck three of us, clad in rubber wetsuits, prepared to slip over the side.
1972 Islander (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 4 June 16/1 The wet suit, worn to keep the diver warm, is almost a necessity in these northern waters.
1984 S. Townsend Growing Pains Adrian Mole 78 She looked dead erotic in her black wetsuit and crash helmet.
wetsuited adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing a one-piece garment
Sidcotted1927
leotarded1972
wetsuited1972
1972 National Geographic Oct. 584 Wet-suited author examines the giant wraparound grin of a right whale.
1978 D. Williams Treasure up in Smoke xix. 174 The alerted wet-suited figure had..waded to the beach.
wet time n. in the building trade, time during which work cannot be carried out owing to bad weather.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > [noun] > time when work cannot be done
wet time1938
1938 Times 5 May 10/4 For nearly 20 years the building trade operatives have..claimed that for uncontrollable irregularities of employment..there should be a scheme of compensation for loss of earnings. The phrase which they used to focus the claim was ‘payment for wet time’.
1952 Economist 12 July 118/2 Steel erectors on American building sites do not enjoy either a guaranteed week or payment for ‘wet-time’.
wet trade n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or constructing with brick > [noun]
bricklaying1483
brickwork1617
bricklayery1703
bricking1725
wet trade1962
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > surfacing or cladding > [noun] > bricklaying and plastering
wet trade1962
1962 Listener 26 July 154/3 The ‘do-it-yourself’ enthusiast who is preparing to tackle garden operations involving the use of cement, lime, and water—the so-called ‘wet trades’.
1973 Times 24 Feb. 13/1 The shortage of skilled workers, particularly in the ‘wet trades’ of bricklaying and plastering.
wet-weather adj. (a) associated with or occurring in rainy weather; (b) designed for use in rainy weather.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wet weather > [adjective]
waterya1398
wet-weather1858
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wet weather > [adjective] > used in wet weather
wet-weather1858
1858 T. S. Woodward Let. 20 Dec. in Reminisc. (1939) 157 Fortunately, we found a little wet-weather spring near the top.
1901 [see sense 2e]. 1922 E. von Arnim Enchanted April i. 8 Big grey eyes almost disappearing under a smashed-down wet-weather hat.
1934 M. V. Hughes London Child of Seventies iii. 28 The boys were off on some long wet~weather tramp.
1978 ‘D. Rutherford’ Collision Course 182 I'm gambling on rain... We're giving you wet~weather tyres.
wet-white n. liquid white theatrical make-up.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > theatrical equipment or accessories > [noun] > make-up > types of
blackface1847
crape hair1866
spirit gum1871
brownface1913
wet-white1922
glycerine tear1934
white-face1947
nose putty1950
nose paste1951
redface1954
yellowface1959
1922 M. Arlen ‘Piracy’ iii. xiv. 256 Just look how depraved they are! They are covered with verdigris, but they call it wet-white!
1976 ‘D. Fletcher’ Don't whistle ‘Macbeth’ 51 The first time I sang Elvira, I had to cover myself from head to toe with wet-white.
wet wing n. Aeronautics (see quot. 1969); usually attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > [adjective] > having specific type or position of wings
multiplane1897
monoplane1907
all-wing1919
mid-wing1934
delta-winged1950
tilt-wing1953
stub-winged1957
wet wing1961
1958 Flying Rev. Oct. 37/1 Scheduled to Supplement earlier Stratofortresses currently serving with the Strategic Air Command, the B-52G employs a ‘wet’ integral-tank wing which substantially increases the bomber's unrefuelled range.]
1961 Flight 79 818/2 These new ‘wet wing’ versions, with greatly increased weight and machined-plank wing skins, have suffered local stresses greater than any experienced with the earlier versions of lower weight and performance.
1969 New Scientist 25 Sept. (Microbes in Industry Suppl.) 23/2 In modern ‘wet-wing’ aircraft, such as Concorde, the fuel is simply pumped into the wings which are coated internally with sealants. In older aircraft..the fuel is contained in rubber bags in the wings.
Draft additions March 2016
wet market n. South-East Asian a market for the sale of fresh meat, fish, and produce.
ΚΠ
1978 Straits Times (Singapore) 13 July 9/3 The Trade Department is reluctant to introduce the sale of frozen fish in ‘wet’ markets for fear of profiteering by hawkers.
1999 Business Times (Malaysia) (Electronic ed.) 27 Feb. 3 Central Market rides on steadily, thanks to its unique historical background—from wet market to a must-visit tourist complex.
2001 BusinessWorld (Philippines) (Nexis) 18 Oct. 4 The wholesale price of regular-milled rice in the major Manila wet markets was Php16.53 per kilo.
2014 Food & Wine Sept. 58/3 Three Parisians..opened this French-Japanese restaurant in a wet market. Perfect example of old-meets-new Hong Kong.
Draft additions June 2015
wet wipe n. a disposable tissue or cloth moistened with a cleansing agent, used for cleaning or personal hygiene; cf. baby wipe n. at baby n. and adj. Compounds 1g.
Π
1966 P. E. Riely & L. S. Gall Effect Diet & Atmosphere on Intestinal & Skin Flora (NASA Contractor Rep. CR-662) II. 17 Only ‘wet wipes’ were allowed and were limited to three a day for hand wiping following eating and defecation.
1983 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 16 July 160/1 Sufferers..will easily be persuaded always to carry sachets or drums of wet wipes with them when they travel.
2011 C. Moran How to be Woman (2012) iii. 63 My husband approached her nethers, tentatively, with a wet-wipe.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
wetv.
/wɛt/, U.S. /wɛt/ I. transitive.† 3. Of wine: To moisten, fill with moist ‘humours’. Obsolete.
1. Proverb.1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. v. sig. Hiii He loueth wel sheeps flesh, that wets his bred in wul.
a. To make (an object) humid or moist by the application of water or other liquid; to suffuse, sprinkle, moisten, drench, bathe with (water, etc.); to dip, steep, soak in, †on.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > make wet [verb (transitive)]
weta950
bathec1000
drenchc1230
blotenc1325
danka1350
anointa1375
moista1382
beshed1382
moil?a1425
madefy?1440
arrouse1480
moisturea1500
humect1531
intinct1547
moisten1559
rinse1579
inebriate1610
irrigate1615
slocken1627
irriguate1632
humectate1640
madidate1656
slake1810
a950 Prose Life Guthlac (1848) xxii Heo..genam þa þæs gehal~godan sealtes..and wætte and drypte in þa eagan.
OE Riddle 12 10 Hwilum mec..dol druncmennen deorcum nihtum, wæteð in wætre, wyrmeð hwilum fægre to fyre.
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 134 Wæt þæt liþ mid ecede.
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 350 Wæt þæt gewrit on þam drence.
c1275 Passion of Our Lord 103 in Old Eng. Misc. 40 Þat bred þat ich on wyne wete.
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde iii. 1115 Therwith his pows and pawmes of his hondes They gan to frote, and wete his temples tweyne.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 36 Send Lazar doun..And do that he his finger wete In water.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 17682 And wit a deu mi face he wette.
?a1400 Morte Arth. 2332 There barbours ware bownne, with basyns one lofte, With warme watire i-wys they wette theme fulle sone.
c1400 Mandeville xviii. [xiv.] (1919) 105 Ȝif a man..wete hem with may dew ofte sithes.
c1430 Two Cookery-bks. 52 Take fayre Paynemayn y-wette in Wyne.
?1550 W. P. tr. C. S. Curio Pasquine in Traunce 24 They..wet the graue with vnholy water, and they perfumed it with Frankincense.
1562 P. Whitehorne Certain Waies Orderyng Souldiers f. 39v, in tr. N. Machiavelli Arte of Warre A stoppell of cotten wet in oile of gineper.
1677 J. White Rich Cabinet (ed. 5) 143 You must let the Paper dry of it self after you have once wetted it.
1684 J. Smith Profit & Pleasure United 23 Cleansing their mouths..with a spung or Linnen cloath wett in Beer.
1707 Irish Act 4 Geo. I c 11. §13 If any of the persons aforesaid shall..wet their hay, or use any other fraud or deceit to make any carr-load of hay to be of the weight prescribed.
1758 T. Fairfax Compl. Sportsman 35 Then having wetted your hand in water, rub his body all over.
1813 R. Southey Life Nelson I. 235 All the shrouds and sails of his ship, which were not absolutely necessary for its immediate management, were thoroughly wetted.
1859 M. I. O. Gascoigne Handbk. Turning (new ed.) 83 A small camel's-hair brush..used for wetting postage stamps.
1869 R. T. Claridge Cold-water Cure 190 Her head, throat, and chest, were frequently wetted with cold water.
1907 J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 103 As soon as the paper is wetted with the solution.
b. Science. Of a liquid: to cover or penetrate (a substance or object) readily, so that a small quantity spreads uniformly over it rather than lying as droplets upon it. A common criterion of wetting is the angle that the surface of a droplet makes, at its point of contact, with the surface on which it rests (as measured through the liquid): the liquid is said to wet or not to wet the surface according as the angle is less or greater than 90 degrees.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical properties > subject to action relating to chemical properties [verb (transitive)]
repel1638
wet1855
absorb1871
scavenge1955
1855 D. Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Philos.: Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, & Heat i. v. 69 If a liquid be poured into a vessel whose sides are of such a nature as to be wetted by it, the liquid..will be curved upwards near the points where it touches the side.
1884 A. Daniell Text-bk. Princ. Physics xi. 246 Objects which are wetted by the liquid in which they float are thus apparently attracted by it; those which are not so are apparently repelled.
1932 Phytopathology 22 926 The presence of an appreciable quantity of sodium hydroxide..increases the ease with which the leaves can be ‘wetted’ in the solution.
1967 M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World vi. 171 Silicon nitride..is not wetted by molten metals.
1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XI. 782/1 The adhesion of water to glass at an air-water-glass interface is greater than the cohesion of water, and hence water is said to wet the glass... The cohesion of mercury is greater than its adhesion to glass and it does not wet the glass.
1978 Nature 20 July 237/1 An example of this is a droplet of the liquid resting on a solid surface. When the contact angle is less that 90°, the liquid wets the solid. Molten beryllium does not wet BeO because the contact angle exceeds 90°.
2. To suffuse with tears, bedew with weeping. Also said of the tears.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > lachrymal organs > flow [verb (transitive)] > suffuse with tears
wetc825
the mind > emotion > suffering > sorrow or grief > lamentation or expression of grief > weeping > weep for [verb (transitive)] > wet or furrow with tears
wetc825
watera1225
furrow?1529
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > lachrymal organs > flow [verb (transitive)] > suffuse with tears > bedew with weeping
wetc1480
c825 Vesp. Psalter vi. 7 Mid tearum strene mine ic wetu.
a1300 E.E. Psalter vi. 6 With mi teres in mi bede Sal i wete mi liggynge-stede.
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 46 Vnwunne haueþ myn wonges wet.
14.. Sir Beues p. 35 (MS. E.) So moche reweþe he hadde þere Þat þe teres watten hys lere.
c1480 (a1400) St. Mary of Egypt 950 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 323 Quhen I had lange tyme gret, & al myn face with teris wete.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. iii. sig. C7v And all the way she wetts with flowing teares.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets ix. sig. B2v Is it for feare to wet a widdowes eye, That thou consum'st thy selfe in single life?
1614 J. Cooke Greenes Tu Quoque B 3 b Giue not your friends cause to wet their handkerchers.
1616 B. Jonson Epigrammes xxxiii, in Wks. I. 777 Who wets my graue, can be no friend of mine.
1682 J. Bunyan Holy War 165 Then they..kissed his feet, and wetted them with tears. View more context for this quotation
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews II. iii. xi. 155 A River of Tears ran down her lovely Cheeks, and wet the Handkerchief which covered her Bosom. View more context for this quotation
1836 W. S. Landor Pericles & Aspasia I. 126 Her tears wetted my cheek.
1868 L. M. Alcott Little Women I. xii. 176 Laying her head on her arms, Jo wet her little romance with a few happy tears.
ΚΠ
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 246 Ne þæt win is to þicgenne þætte hæteþ & wæteþ þone Innoþ.
1560 B. Googe tr. ‘M. Palingenius’ Zodyake of Lyfe iii. sig. Fiii Apace we feede and scarce canne ryse, so wetes the wyne our brayne.
4. To make moist or damp by exposure to rain, by a fall into water, or the like. to wet through, to the skin: to drench the clothes of (a person).figurative.a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xvii. 17 Apparuerunt fontes aquarum..þat is þe sothfastnes of prechours is seen, þat wetis men wiþ halesome lare.a1633 Visct. Falkland Hist. Edward II (1680) 93 What can he do to England, which hath a wooden wall will wet his courage?
a. Said of water, rain, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > make wet [verb (transitive)] > by exposure to water or rain
wet1297
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 6578 Þat water..wax euere uaste,..& watte is sson & is vet.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 23685 Waters þat wete þan cristes flexs.
1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. II. 25 Þe water wolde..wete [MS. γ weete] al her cloþes.
a1500 R. Henryson Ressoning betuix Aige & Yowth 4 in Poems (1981) 170 Perly droppis of the balmy schouris Thir widdis grene had with thair watter wete.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 780/2 In the begynnyng of the yere the dewe weteth the grounde swetely.
1589 Pappe w. Hatchet in Lyly's Wks. (Bond) III. 394 We care not for a Scottish mist, though it wet vs to the skin.
1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 218 Men..of as bad a nature and base a moulde as euer water wette, or winde dried.
1658 in E. Nicholas Nicholas Papers (1920) IV. 57 Wee had not above 4 shots of powder and that the worst that euer water wet.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1646 (1955) II. 509 These Waters in some places, breaking in the fall, wett us as if we had pas'd through a mist.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 304 The Place was not deep, but it wetted me all over.
1797 R. Southey Lett. from Spain v. 57 The clouds wetted me as they passed along.
1816 J. K. Tuckey Narr. Exped. River Zaire (1818) v. 179 During the night we had two smart showers of rain, which..wetted us through.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xiv. 121 ‘It doesn't take much to wet you and me through, Mr. Crowl,’ said Newman, laying his hand upon the lappel of his threadbare coat.
1858 D. Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Philos.: Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, & Heat (new ed.) 73 If a capillary tube be plunged in a liquid which wets it.
1874 March. Dufferin Canad. Jrnl. (1891) 171 A thunder-shower..which wetted us to the skin.
1884 Law Times Rep. 51 229/2 The water..soaked under the wall and wetted the mud below it.
b. absol.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > be wet [verb (intransitive)] > make wet
wetc1330
moistc1400
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace 10340 Wyþ rysyng wawes,..Fer aboute hym wil he [the lake] wete.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace 10343 Þe wawes þat so wetes.
a1600 A. Montgomerie Misc. Poems v. 44 All is not gold that gleitis..Nor water all that weitis.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) iii. ii. 26 The propertie of raine is to wet, and fire to burne. View more context for this quotation
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 373 All they ever have is a dew, which is so slender it never wets at all.
1661 R. Boyle Hist. Fluidity & Firmnesse i, in Certain Physiol. Ess. 163 Though every wetting Liquor be fluid, yet every fluid body does not wet.
1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters i. 82 The purest water wets soonest and most.
c. passive. Often to be wet through, (also †thorough or through wet), wet to the skin (cf. 4a).The form wet of the past participle is sometimes difficult to distinguish from wet adj. 4c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > very wet [phrase] > having wet clothes
to be wet throughc1400
wet to the skin1535
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > make very wet [verb (transitive)] > a person's clothes
wet1820
c1400 tr. Higden VII. 151 In processe of tyme þat body y-wette wiþ dewy droppes knewe þe comoun corrupcioun of dedly men.
c1400 Laud Troy Bk. 12942 So faste doun the water ȝet, That thei were alle thorow wet.
1497 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 129 The Newe making of a last of gonnepoudre wett in saltwater.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Dan. iv. B With the dew of heauen shall he be wet.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 99v But if he had been wetted from toppe to toe, no man standyng by to see it, then had he been miserable in veraye deede.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xvi. 149 As the drie ground that thirstes after a showr Seemes to reioyce when it is well iwet.
1594 T. Nashe Vnfortunate Traveller sig. F To haue him stand in the raine tyll he was thorough wet.
1639 J. Taylor Part Summers Trav. 44 So that the miserable Stipend..will hardly buy wood to make a fire for him when hee comes home to dry him, when hee is through wet.
1659 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) II. 141 Hee..was wett to the skin before he came half way.
1759 S. Johnson Idler 25 Aug. 265 He..heard with great delight a shower, by which he was not wet, rattling among the branches.
a1766 F. Sheridan Concl. Mem. Miss Sidney Bidulph (1767) IV. 53 The bottom of that vile ditch into which he had fallen was full of water, and he had been wet quite through.
1775 A. Burnaby Trav. Middle Settlements N.-Amer. 36 I had been wet to the skin in the afternoon.
1820 R. Southey Life Wesley I. 78 Having slept on the floor one night, because his bed had been wetted in a storm.
1842 Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 2 78 Some of the compressed trenails had been wetted by accident, and could not be afterwards driven into the holes in the chairs.
1856 N. Hawthorne Jrnl. 8 Apr. in Eng. Notebks. (1997) I. iv. 476 We were caught in two or three showers..but got back..without being very much wetted.
1898 A. Balfour To Arms vii The street was paved with large, rounded stones, which..were splashed and wetted by dirty water thrown from above.
1904 A. N. Cooper Quaint Talks 10 Few things have struck people as more wonderful than how I have survived being wet through so often.
5.
a. Of a person or animal: To get (oneself, one's body or clothes, also another person or object) moist or damp by contact with, or immersion in, water or other liquid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > make wet [verb (transitive)] > of a person or animal
wet1338
1338 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 204 Sir kyng rise vp & skip, for þou has wette þi hater.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) vi. 21 Þat wymmen schuld mow wade ouer and noȝt wete þaire kneesse.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 129 She leet no morsel from hir lyppes falle Ne wette hir fyngres in hir sauce deepe.
1589 J. Sparke in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations iii. 542 When they can flye no further [they] fall into the water, and hauing wette their wings take a newe flight againe.
1639 J. Taylor Part Summers Trav. 40 You know you need not wet your foot to seek them, they are your own already.
1770 C. Jenner Placid Man II. v. vii. 142 If you can be contented..to return at night,..having in four or five hours tired a pair of coach-horses, wetted two servants to the skin [etc.].
1816 G. S. Faber Origin Pagan Idolatry I. 398 Every morning they [certain aquatic birds] repaired to the sea, wetted their wings, and sprinkled the sacred edifice.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor xii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. I. 324 Twa finer dentier wild-ducks never wat a feather.
1846 A. Marsh Father Darcy xliv In traversing the ford of the Stour..they have wetted the bag of powder.
1873 March. Dufferin Canad. Jrnl. (1891) 82 The gentlemen..in getting into the canoe..were upset, and wet all their clothes.
b. Proverb.
ΚΠ
c1384 G. Chaucer Hous of Fame 1785 For ye be lyke the sweynte catte, That wolde haue fissh but..He wold no thinge wete his clowes.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 39 As a cat wolde ete fisshes Withoute wetinge of his cles.
c1394 P. Pl. Crede 405 Þou woldest not weten þy fote, & woldest fich kacchen.
1545 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Prouerbes (new ed.) f. xlvii The catte wold fishe eate, but she wol not her feete wette.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. 28.
1639 J. Clarke Paroemiologia 234 The Cat loves fish well, but is loath to wet her foot.
c. To void urine in (one's bed, clothes). to wet one's pants figurative, to become excited or upset (as if to the extent of involuntarily voiding urine).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > dirtiness or soiling with specific kinds of dirt > dirty or soil with specific kinds of dirt [verb (transitive)] > dirty with urine
pissc1390
bepiss1481
compiss1653
wet1767
urinate1768
pee1788
the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > be in state of nervous excitement [verb (intransitive)]
to take ona1450
seethe1609
trepidate1623
to take on oneself1632
flutter1668
pother1715
to be upon the nettle (also in a nettle)1723
to be nerve all over1778
to be all nerve1819
to be (all) on wires1824
to break up1825
to carry on1828
to be on (occasionally upon or on the) edge1872
faff1874
to have kittens1900
flap1910
to be in, get in(to), a flap1939
to go sparec1942
to keep (also blow, lose) one's cool1964
faffle1965
to get one's knickers in a twist1971
to have a canary1971
to wet one's pants1979
tweak1981
1767 Ordinary's Acc. Eliz. Brownrigg 10 The deceased child had wetted the bed.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 259 The man who wets his bed, rather than take the trouble to get out and make water, is insanely idle.
1979 ‘M. Underwood’ Smooth Justice i. 35 There are quite a few people who'll wet their pants if I get sent down.
1981 A. Price Soldier no More 184 We did see the Histories season at Stratford, I grant you. But I don't remember any schoolgirls wetting their pants next to me.
d. reflexive. To urinate involuntarily. Also figurative (as at sense 5c above).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > defecation or urination > urinary system > urinate [verb (reflexive)] > involuntarily
wet1922
wee1970
the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > be in state of nervous excitement [verb (reflexive)]
wet1970
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses iii. xviii. [Penelope] 696 What do I care with it dropping out of me and that black closed breeches he made me buy takes you half an hour to let them down wetting all myself.
1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard 258 The Sunday editors would wet themselves; they liked nothing better than a sordid purge in an institution.
1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 30 Jan. 100/5 She also sweats, weeps, vomits and wets herself.
6. Of a river, sea, etc.:
a. To water, irrigate (land).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > [verb (transitive)] > supply with water
waterOE
wet1382
overwater1645
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Josh. xiii. 3 The trubli flood that weetith [L. irrigat] Egipt.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 1318 Fison, gison, tigre & eufrate Al erþe þese weten erly & late.
a1774 R. Fergusson Poems (1785) 154 I dwall amang the caller springs That weet the Land o' Cakes.
b. To lave, border with water (a coast, country). rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > [verb (transitive)] > border with water
wet1572
1572 T. Twyne tr. Dionysius Periegetes Surueye World sig. Av The Sea..which..wetting the countrie Issica..is called Issicum.
1773 R. Fergusson Auld Reikie 16 As lang as Forth weets Lothians Shore.
7. † b. passive. To be primed with liquor. (Cf. wet adj. 14a.) Obsolete.† c. reflexive. To imbibe liquor, take drink. Obsolete.
a. to wet (one's) whistle, weasand, mouth, beak, beard, etc.: to take a drink. See also clay n. 4b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (intransitive)]
drinkc1000
to wet (one's) whistle, weasand, mouth, beak, beardc1386
bumc1390
to wet (erron. whet) one's whistlec1405
tipple1648
to suck one's face1699
to moisten or wet one's clay1708
to water one's clay1751
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (intransitive)] > drink intoxicating liquor
to wet (one's) whistle, weasand, mouth, beak, beardc1386
bibc1400
to kiss the cupa1420
drawa1500
refresh1644
mug1653
bub1654
jug1681
whiffle1693
dram1740
wet1783
to suck (also sup) the monkey1785
stimulate1800
lush1811
taste1823
liquor1839
oil1841
paint1853
irrigate1856
nip1858
smile1858
peg1874
gargle1889
shicker1906
stop1924
bevvy1934
c1386 G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale 235 So was hir ioly whistle wel y-wet.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xiii. 131 Had she oones wett hyr whystyll, She couth syng full clere Hyr Paternoster.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 780 I wete my whystell, as good drinkers do, je crocque la pie.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Crocquer la pie, to wet the whistle, or weason, throughly; to drinke hard.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler iii. 75 Lets..drink the other cup to wet our whistles, and so sing away all sad thoughts. View more context for this quotation
1682 N. O. tr. N. Boileau-Despréaux Lutrin ii. 154 Wetting their Whistles with the good Ale-pot.
1722 S. Croxall tr. Æsop Fables xcviii. 169 I'll give you a Dram to wet your Whistle.
1773 R. Fergusson Auld Reikie 5 Whare couthy Chiels at E'ening meet Their bizzing craigs and mous to weet.
1786 R. Burns Poems 26 Monie daily weet their weason Wi' liquors nice.
1849 C. Dickens David Copperfield (1850) vii. 68 The wine shall be kept to wet your whistle.
1888 R. Buchanan Heir of Linne i I ne'er can sing till my throat's wetted, Tammas.
1910 W. H. Hudson Shepherd's Life xi. 135 The starlings..singing and talking and swallowing elderberries between whiles to wet their whistles.
1939 T. S. Eliot Old Possum's Bk. Pract. Cats 16 For to the Bell at Hampton he had gone to wet his beard.
1978 J. Carroll Mortal Friends i. v. 53 Is there a public house here where a fellow could wet his beak?
ΚΠ
c1440 Partonope 5198 And so they dronke þat boþe they bene Welle I-wette [Rawl. MS. Well wet].
?1529 R. Hyrde tr. J. L. Vives Instr. Christen Woman iii. i. sig. q.ijv At bankettes and festes, whan they be well wette with drynke.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (reflexive)]
wetc1440
c1440 York Myst. xxx. 94 Itt were appreue to my persone Þat preuely ȝe paste me, Or ye wente fro this wones Or with wynne ȝe had wette yowe.
1672 R. Wild Poetica Licentia in Let. Declar. Liberty Conscience 27 And if the fiery trial should return, Most of you wet your selves too much to burn.
d. to wet the other (or t'other) eye: to drink one glass after another.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (intransitive)] > drink intoxicating liquor > drink another glass
to wet the other (or t'other) eye1745
1745 Life Bampfylde-Moore Carew 89 The Officers..filled him out a Bumper of Cherry Brandy, which when he had drank they forced another upon him, persuading him to wet the other Eye.
1840 J. T. J. Hewlett Peter Priggins xiii, in New Monthly Mag. Take one more jug of beer—wet t'other eye, we call it.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop ii. lxii. 149 Moisten your clay, wet the other eye, drink man.
a1845 R. H. Barham Hints Hist. Play in Ingoldsby Legends (1847) 3rd Ser. 341 There's not a drop left him to ‘wet t'other eye’.
e. absol. To drink alcoholic liquor; to ‘liquor up’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (intransitive)] > drink intoxicating liquor
to wet (one's) whistle, weasand, mouth, beak, beardc1386
bibc1400
to kiss the cupa1420
drawa1500
refresh1644
mug1653
bub1654
jug1681
whiffle1693
dram1740
wet1783
to suck (also sup) the monkey1785
stimulate1800
lush1811
taste1823
liquor1839
oil1841
paint1853
irrigate1856
nip1858
smile1858
peg1874
gargle1889
shicker1906
stop1924
bevvy1934
1783 J. Woodforde Diary 9 Oct. (1926) II. 97 With the latter I walked to the Swan and there wetted with him that is, drank a glass of Wine.
1840 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 3rd Ser. xi. 147 But come, let's liquour; I want to wet up.
1880 S. Baring-Gould Mehalah II. vi. 115 I'm dry after my row and want a wet. As I wet I will talk.
f. To accompany (solid or dry food) with liquor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (transitive)] > wash down food
to wash down1600
water1630
rinse1631
wet1878
1878 T. Hardy Return of Native vi. iv, in Belgravia Dec. 250 Maul down the victuals from corner-cupboard..and I'll draw a drap o' sommat to wet it with.
8.
a. To celebrate by drinking; to have a drink over.The earliest use is to wet a commission (in the Army or Navy).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (transitive)] > drink intoxicating liquor > celebrate or initiate with drink
weta1687
steep1765
to wet the baby's head1881
a1687 Duke of Buckingham Militant Couple in Wks. (1715) I. 128 He was as Drunk as a Chaplain of the Army upon wetting his Commission.
1699 J. Haynes in G. Farquhar Love & Bottle Prol. sig. Aiii Come on then; foot to foot be boldly set, And our young Author's new Commission wet.
1710 C. Shadwell Fair Quaker of Deal ii. 27 Crib . Ay, the two Ships would serve us nicely. Easey. Then we should have Commissions to wet.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 88. ⁋4 Three Quarts to my new Lord for wetting his Title.
1829 F. Marryat Naval Officer II. vi. 177 They..declared I should give them a dinner to wet my commission.
a1854 L. Beecher Lect. Intemperance 23 Until in some places a man can scarcely wear an article of dress, or receive one of equipage or furniture, which has not been ‘wetted’.
1876 W. Green & C. Hindley Life & Adventures Cheap Jack 268 I shall be back again shortly, when we will wet the deal.
1894 A. Robertson Nuggets 16 Drinks is to be redooced to-day from a shillin' to sixpence, so we'll wet the occasion.
b. to wet the baby's head and variants: to drink to celebrate the birth of a child. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (transitive)] > drink intoxicating liquor > celebrate or initiate with drink
weta1687
steep1765
to wet the baby's head1881
1881 W. Westall Old Factory II. v. 46 ‘We'll wet little Mabel's head with some of it.’ ‘What mean you?’.. ‘Why my wife was brought to bed last night of a little lass as we are going to call Mabel, and I'd like us to drink her health. That's what we call wetting a child's head in these parts.’
1924 D. H. Lawrence & M. L. Skinner Boy in Bush xiv. 210 Come along in—all welcome!—an' wet the baby's eye.
1953 E. Simon Past Masters iii. v. 173 At the party given to ‘wet the baby's head’ the McGillivrays' friends and relations produced only large and expensive gifts.
1970 Guardian 2 May 3/7 If he had not been wetting the baby's head, and so been slightly above proof, he might have run for it.
9. † a. Nautical. To cast or drop (an anchor). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > berthing, mooring, or anchoring > berth, moor, or anchor (a ship) [verb (transitive)] > anchor (a ship) > cast (anchor)
castc1300
shoot1487
weta1600
a1600 A. Montgomerie Misc. Poems xlviii. 168 We wat ane anchor evin betuixt they tua.
1663 J. Mayne tr. Lucian Part of Lucian sig. N4 One Anchor more, perhappes, I have never yet cast, or wet, which is to pretend old age, sicknesse, [etc.].
b. to wet one's line: to start fishing, to fish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fish [verb (intransitive)]
fishc888
to go (also Middle English wade) a-fishing1297
to wet one's line1653
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler iii. 80 I have not yet wet my line since I came from home. View more context for this quotation
1898 G. A. B. Dewar In Pursuit of Trout 165 On days when nothing was doing..he might not rarely be heard remarking that he had not wetted his line.
10.
a. To steep or soak (grain) in water in order to convert it into malt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > malting > [verb (transitive)] > soak grains
wet1695
1695 London Gaz. No. 3076/4 A large Mault House that wets 700 Quarters per Annum.
1742 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer (ed. 4) I. 22 In a great Brew-house..they wetted or used a considerable Quantity of Malt in one Week.
1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & Widows II. xxv. 111 The farmer would get a good price for his barley, the poor man would be able to ‘wet’ and convert into malt enough for his family.
b. To infuse (tea) by pouring boiling water on the leaves; also with tea-leaves as object. dialect and colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > preparation of drinks > [verb (transitive)] > make tea
draw1736
to make tea1845
brew1868
infuse1891
wet1902
to drum up1910
mast1963
1902 Cornhill Mag. Dec. 776 I ha' wetted th' tea pretty nigh half-an-hour ago.
1905 H. G. Wells Kipps iii. ii. §3 Ann..stooped with the kettle-holder to wet the tea.
1916 Blackwood's Mag. Apr. 499/1 ‘Aye, aye, sir,’ replies the duty servant. ‘Tea just being wetted.’ (We never ‘make’ tea, we always ‘wet’ it!)
1939 J. Joyce Finnegans Wake 585 You never wet the tea!
1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax viii. 77 Make yourself at home, and I'll just wet the tea-leaves.
1978 I. Murdoch Sea 419 ‘I'll wet the tea,’ said Hartley and disappeared into the kitchen.
11. to wet down, to damp (sails, paper, embers) with water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being slightly wet > make slightly wet [verb (transitive)] > sails, paper, or embers
to wet down1840
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast iv. 25 We..continued wetting down the sails by buckets of water whipped up to the mast~head.
1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 155 Wetting down, the process of damping paper for printing purposes.
1891 Daily News 26 Sept. 2/5 Holland said that when he came on his watch there was no supply of coal in the bunkers, and that Jensen would not wet down his ashes.
12. Dyeing. to wet out, to soak in water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > colouring > dyeing > dye [verb (transitive)] > processes or techniques
to dye in grainc1386
woad1463
madder1464
set1529
to dye in (the) wool, in grain1579
alum1598
rake1778
sumac1792
piece-dye1810
gall1822
dung1824
wince1839
winch1845
overdye1857
top1874
to wet out1882
vat1883
cross-dye1885
paddle1909
premetallize1948
spin-dye1948
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > wash clothes [verb (transitive)] > rinse
rinsea1500
to wet out1882
1882 Crookes Dyeing 106 The yarns or pieces are first wetted out uniformly with water.
1900 Jrnl. Soc. Dyers & Colourists 16 8 Before dyeing, the bodies [of hats] are well wetted-out in boiling water.
13. Glass-making. to wet off, up. (See quots. and cf. wetter n. 1b, wetting n. 3d.)
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > glass-making > make glass [verb (transitive)] > specific processes
nip1559
scald1662
found1783
deliver1809
frit1832
gather1839
to wet off, up1849
marver1852
platten1875
matt1885
1849 A. Pellatt Curiosities of Glass Making 85 The pontil secures the whole preparatory to its being whetted [sic] off the bowl..by the touch of the cold pucellas.
1908 W. Rosenhain Glass Manuf. 57 The virgin clay and chamotte having been intimately mixed, the whole mass is ‘wet up’ by the addition of a proper proportion of water and prolonged..kneading.
1908 W. Rosenhain Glass Manuf. 99 The blower..detaches the bottle from the pipe..by locally chilling the glass—a process known by the descriptive term of ‘wetting off’.
II. intransitive.
14. To become wet. Also to wet through.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > be wet [verb (intransitive)] > become wet
weta1350
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 38 Þe water þat hit [sc. a stone] wetes yn ywis hit worþeþ al to wyn.
1758 Philos. Trans. 1757 (Royal Soc.) 50 361 The millers do not deny..that some whiting is carried to all the great mills. The excuse alleged for it is, that it makes the flour wet, and consequently bake, the better.
1902 S. E. White Blazed Trail xviii. 138 I thought any leather would wet through in the snow!
15. To rain, drizzle. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > rain > rain falls [verb (intransitive)] > fall (of rain)
rineOE
berinea1300
raina1400
wet1740
1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 88 Don't you think that yonder Cloud may give us a small Shower? and it did a little begin to wet.
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. To Weit, Weet, to rain.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Wit, to rain gently.
1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester Weet or wet, to rain slightly.
16. Nautical. Of a vessel: To ship water.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > shipwreck > suffer shipwreck [verb (intransitive)] > take in water
to take in (also on) water1530
to ship a sea1698
wet1874
1874 F. G. D. Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. vi. 214 A reef should be taken in directly the boat begins to wet.
17. To urinate. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > defecation or urination > urinary system > urinate [verb (intransitive)]
migheeOE
pissc1300
to make water?a1475
stale1530
leak1598
urinate1599
minge1606
urine1607
water1631
stroana1730
to pass water1738
to pump ship1759
piddle1784
to make one's burn1788
pittle1801
pee1825
micturate1842
tiddlea1852
leck1922
wet1925
whizz1929
wee-wee1930
wee1934
widdle1934
to go (make) wee-wee1937
tinkle1943
void1947
to take a leak1969
potty1972
slash1973
wazz1984
1925 D. H. Lawrence Novel in Refl. Death Porcupine 122 But see old Leo Tolstoi wetting on the flame. As if even his wet were absolute!
1935 V. Woolf Let. 21 June (1979) V. 403 The marmoset is just about to wet on my shoulder.
1954 J. Steinbeck Sweet Thursday xiv. 82 House-broken dogs wet on the parlor rug.
1975 J. Cleary Safe House ii. 71 The children want to wet... Come on, love. Have your wet.
Compounds
The verb stem in combination.
wet-bed n. = bed-wetter n. at bed n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > defecation or urination > [noun] > one who
wet-bed1934
1934 ‘J. Spenser’ Limey breaks In iv. 61 I lay awake for so long that I heard the night watchman come to call the wet-beds.
1960 J. Stroud Shorn Lamb xviii. 204 Does he enurete?.. I've got four chronic wet-beds already.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
wetadv.
/wɛt/, U.S. /wɛt/ rare.
As a wet nurse.
ΚΠ
1697 J. Vanbrugh Relapse v. 105 I who had suckled it, and swadled it, and Nurst it both wet and dry.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1c888
n.21719
adj.c888
v.c825
adv.1697