moisten
/ˈmɔɪs(ə)n
/verb [with object]
1Wet slightly: she moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue...
- Slightly moisten the rock salt with the water and spread on a tray large enough to take the oysters.
- Dredge the bones in flour to coat, slightly moistening the bones with reserved liquid if necessary to make starch adhere.
- To obtain each sample, 4 sterile cotton-tipped applicators were slightly moistened in sterile saline and swabbed along the length of the shaft.
Synonyms
dampen, wet, damp, dew, water, soak, irrigate, humidify
literary bedew
rare sparge, humify, humect, moistify
1.1 [no object] (Of the eyes) fill with tears: her eyes moistened...
- The comment stung Renae and she felt the danger of tears as her eyes moistened.
- Her throat felt dry and her eyes moistened as a tear jerked itself out, her breath turned to gasps of disbelief.
- ‘At 30, I thought I was going to live happily ever after,’ he says, his eyes moistening for the first time.