waterworks

See also: water works

English

Etymology

water +‎ works

Pronunciation

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

waterworks (plural waterworks)

1. The water supply system of a town etc., including reservoirs, pumps and pipes.
2. Any single facility, such as a filtration plant, within such a system.

Translations

the water supply system of a town etc., including reservoirs, pumps and pipes

• Czech: vodovod (cs) m
• Danish: vandforsyning c
• Finnish: vesilaitos (fi)

• French: station de traitement d'eau
• Italian: sistema idrico m, acquedotto (it) m
• Serbo-Croatian: vȍdovōd (sh) m

any single facility, such as a filtration plant, within such a system

• Danish: vandværk (da) n
• Finnish: vesilaitos (fi)
• French: systéme hydraulique m
• Italian: sistema idraulico m

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vannverk n, vassverk n

  Nynorsk: vassverk n

Noun

waterworks pl (plural only)

1. (informal) Tears; crying.

   She turned on the waterworks when we told her the old man was dead, but she was asking questions about the will soon enough.

2. (informal) The genitourinary system.

References

• “waterworks” in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press.