watertight

See also: water-tight

English

Alternative forms

water-tight

Etymology

From water +‎ tight. Compare Scots wattirticht (“watertight”), West Frisian wetterticht (“waterproof”), Dutch waterdicht (“waterproof, watertight”), German wasserdicht (“watertight, waterproof”), Danish vandtæt (“watertight”), Swedish vattentät (“watertight, waterproof”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɔː.tə.taɪt/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɑː.tɚ.taɪt/, /ˈwɔː.tɚ.taɪt/

Adjective

watertight (comparative more watertight, superlative most watertight)

So tightly made that water cannot enter or escape.
Synonyms: waterfast, waterproof, impervious, impermeable
- 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
  What a day, eh? Demmy, it's like the commencement of the rainy season in Bengal. But you'll find my carriage is watertight. Come along, my mother and Emmy are in the vestry.
- 1890 March 6, Arthur Conan Doyle, “J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement”, in The Captain of the Polestar and Other Tales‎^[1], Longmans, Green & Co:
  There is no reference to rough weather, and, indeed, the state of the vessel’s paint and rigging excludes the idea that she was abandoned for any such reason. She is perfectly watertight.
(figurative) So devised or planned as to be impossible to defeat, evade or nullify.
a watertight alibi

a watertight contract

a watertight regulation
- 2002 July 21, Jon Henderson, “Watertight deal saves League”, in The Observer‎^[2]:
  While the Nationwide League suffer the consequences of not having negotiated a watertight agreement with ITV Digital, the Premier League can be excused a smug smile of satisfaction over the deal they struck with the fallen digital company.
- 2016 February 5, Rowena Mason, “David Cameron: EU deal will be legally binding”, in The Guardian‎^[3], →ISSN:
  David Cameron has said his EU deal will be legally binding and watertight, after a senior European politician claimed countries could simply undo it after the UK voted to remain in the union.
- 2021 March 31, Phil McNulty, “England 2-1 Poland: What shape are Gareth Southgate's side in?”, in BBC Sport‎^[4]:
  What if England's defence is finally examined to the full by class opposition at the Euros? Can this rearguard be trusted to remain watertight and protect what a high-quality attack can give them?

Derived terms

watertightness

Related terms

Translations

so tightly made that water cannot enter or escape

Belarusian: воданепраніка́льны (be) (vodanjepranikálʹny), герметы́чны (hjermjetýčny)
Bulgarian: херметичен (hermetičen), водонепроницаем (vodonepronicaem)
Catalan: estanc
Chinese:
Mandarin: 水密的 (zh) (shuǐmì de), (waterproof) 防水的 (zh) (fángshuǐ de)
Czech: vodotěsný (cs) m
Danish: vandtæt (da)
Dutch: waterdicht (nl)
Finnish: vedenpitävä, vesitiivis (fi)
French: étanche (fr)
Galician: estanco
German: wasserdicht (de)
Greek: στεγανός (el) (steganós), υδατοστεγής (el) (ydatostegís)
Ancient Greek: στεγανός (steganós)
Hungarian: vízhatlan (hu)
Irish: uisce-obach, uiscedhíonach
Italian: a tenuta stagna, impermeabile (it)
Japanese: 水を通さない (mizu o tōsanai), 水密の (すいみつの, suimitsu no)
Luxembourgish: waasserdicht
Māori: pihi, whakapiri
Norwegian:
Bokmål: vanntett (no), vasstett

Nynorsk: vasstett
Polish: wodoszczelny (pl) m, nieprzemakalny (pl) m
Portuguese: impermeável (pt)
Russian: водонепроница́емый (ru) (vodonepronicájemyj), гермети́чный (ru) (germetíčnyj), непромока́емый (ru) (nepromokájemyj)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: водонепропусан m

Latin: vodonepropusan m
Spanish: hermético (es), estanco (es)
Swedish: vattentät (sv)
Ukrainian: водонепроникни́й (vodonepronyknýj), гермети́чний (hermetýčnyj)

impossible to defeat, evade or nullify

Bulgarian: неопровержим (bg) (neoproveržim)
Finnish: vedenpitävä, aukoton (fi)
German: wasserdicht (de)
Russian: непробива́емый (ru) (neprobivájemyj)
Spanish: sin fisuras, a toda prueba