wet

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See also: -wet

English

Etymology

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(deprecated template usage)

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English wet (“wet, moistened”), wett, wette, past participle of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English weten (“to wet”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English wǣtan (“to wet, moisten, water”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *wētijaną (“to wet, make wet”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water, wet”) (also the source of water).

Cognate with Scots weit, wete (“to wet”), Saterland Frisian wäitje (“to wet; drench”), Icelandic væta (“to wet”). Compare also Middle English weet (“wet”), from Old English wǣt (“wet, moist, rainy”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *wētaz (“wet, moist”), related to Scots weit, weet, wat (“wet”), North Frisian wiat, weet, wäit (“wet”), Saterland Frisian wäit (“wet”), West Frisian wiet (“wet”), Swedish and Norwegian våt (“wet”), Danish våd (“wet”), Faroese vátur (“wet”), Icelandic votur (“wet”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

wet (comparative wetter, superlative wettest)

  1. Made up of liquid or moisture, usually (but not always) water.
    Synonym: wetting
    Water is wet.
  2. Of an object, etc.: covered or impregnated with liquid, usually (but not always) water.
    Synonyms: damp, saturated, soaked; see also Thesaurus:wet
    Antonym: dry
    I went out in the rain and now my clothes are all wet.
    The baby is wet and needs its nappy changed.
  3. Of a burrito, sandwich, or other food: covered in a sauce.
    • 2000, Robert Allen Palmatier, Food: a dictionary of literal and nonliteral terms, page 372:
      A chimichanga (MWCD: 1982) is a burrito that is deep-fried, rather than baked, and is served in the fashion of a wet burrito.
    • 2005, Restaurant business, Volume 104, Issues 1-10
      The new item is its first "wet," or sauce-topped, burrito.
    • 2011, J. Gabriel Gates, Charlene Keel, Dark Territory, page 13
      But I'm getting the wet burrito.” Ignacio looked down at some sort of a tomato sauce–covered tortilla tube.
  4. Of calligraphy and fountain pens: depositing a large amount of ink from the nib or the feed.
    This pen’s a wet writer, so it’ll feather on this cheap paper.
  5. Of a sound recording: having had audio effects applied.
  6. Of weather or a time period: rainy.
    Synonyms: damp, raining, rainy
    Antonyms: dry, sunny
    It’s going to be wet tomorrow.
    • 1637, John Milton, Comus, London: Humphrey Robinson, p. 32,[1]
      Summer drouth, or singed aire
      Never scorch thy tresses faire,
      Nor wet Octobers torrent flood
      Thy molten crystall fill with mudde,
  7. (slang) Of a person: inexperienced in a profession or task; having the characteristics of a rookie.
    Synonyms: green, wet behind the ears
    That guy’s wet; after all, he just started yesterday.
  8. (slang, vulgar) (of women) Sexually aroused and thus having the vulva moistened with vaginal secretions.
    Synonyms: horny, moist; see also Thesaurus:randy
    He got me all wet.
  9. (British, slang) Ineffectual, feeble, showing no strength of character.
    Synonyms: feeble, hopeless, useless
    Don’t be so wet.
  10. Permitting alcoholic beverages.
    • 1995, Richard F. Hamm, Shaping the Eighteenth Amendment:
      The wet states would be "the greatest beneficiaries" because the amendment would root out the liquor traffic within their cities.
  11. (slang, archaic) Refreshed with liquor; drunk.
    Synonyms: inebriated, soused; see also Thesaurus:drunk
    • c. 1694, Matthew Prior, “Celia to Damon”
      […] When my lost Lover the tall Ship ascends, / With Musick gay, and wet with Iovial Friends […]
  12. (biology, chemistry) Of a scientist or laboratory: working with biological or chemical matter.
    Antonym: dry
  13. (chemistry) Employing, or done by means of, water or some other liquid.
    the wet extraction of copper, in distinction from dry extraction in which dry heat or fusion is employed
  14. (slang, euphemistic) Involving assassination or "wet work".
    a wet affair; a wet job; wet stuff

Derived terms

Terms derived from wet (adjective)

Descendants

  • Bislama: wet

Translations

See also

Noun

wet (countable and uncountable, plural wets)

  1. Liquid or moisture.
    • (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Now the sun, with more effectual beams, / Had cheered the face of earth, and dried the wet / From drooping plant.
  2. Rainy weather.
    Don't go out in the wet.
  3. (Australia) Rainy season. (often capitalized)
    • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1943, Chapter XI, page 186-7, [2]
      They'll be in the camp […] before the Wet's out, mark my words.
    • 2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo 2012, p. 365:
      He said he wanted to beat the clouds gathering, before the Wet had properly settled itself over the plains again.
    • 2015, David Andrew, The Complete Guide to Finding the Mammals of Australia, Csiro Publishing, Appendix B, page 380 [3]
      Northern Australia is tropical and subject to a prolonged wet season (often called simply 'the Wet') that may last from December to April […] . The Wet features high humidity, heavy rain, flooding that can cut off towns and roads for days on end, and, in most years, violent cyclones that cause high seas, widespread damage and sometimes loss of life.
  4. (British, UK politics, derogatory) A moderate Conservative; especially, one who opposed the hard-line policies of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
    Antonym: dry
  5. (colloquial) An alcoholic drink.
    • 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York 2007, page 60:
      ‘A pity,’ said Jim, ‘I thought we was going to have a free wet.’
  6. (US, colloquial) One who supports the consumption of alcohol and thus opposes Prohibition.
    • (Can we date this quote by Noah S. Sweat and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?), Jr.
      The drys were as unhappy with the second part of the speech as the wets were with the first half.

Translations

Verb

wet (third-person singular simple present wets, present participle wetting, simple past and past participle wet or wetted)

  1. (transitive) To cover or impregnate with liquid.
  2. (transitive) To accidentally urinate in or on.
    Johnny wets the bed several times a week.
  3. (intransitive) To make or become wet.
  4. (transitive, soldering) To form an intermetallic bond between a solder and a metal substrate.
  5. (transitive, informal) To celebrate by drinking alcohol.
    • 1826, Thomas Bayly Howell, ‎Thomas Jones Howell, A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings
      [He] invited some officers and other gentlemen to dine with him at the Dolphin tavern in Tower street, June 17, 1706, in order to wet his commission […]
    to wet the baby's head
  6. Misspelling of whet.
  7. (US, slang) To kill or seriously injure.
    Wet 'em up!

Derived terms

Terms derived from wet (verb)

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Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Anagrams

Araki

Etymology

Borrowed from Bislama wet (“wet”), from English wet.

Adjective

wet

  1. (Southwest Santo) wet

References

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

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(deprecated template usage)

From Middle Dutch wet, wette, wit, weet, from Old Dutch witat, witut (“rule, law”). Compare Low German Wet, Old High German wizzid, wizzōd (“law, order, will, scriptural ordinance”), Middle High German wizzot (“law, testament, sacrament”), Old Frisian witut, witat (“host”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐍉𐌸 (witōþ, “law”).

Noun

wet f (plural wetten, diminutive wetje n)

  1. law (rule)
  2. law (body of rules declared and/or enforced by a government)
  3. (physics) law
Derived terms
Descendants
See also

Etymology 2

Verb

wet

  1. (deprecated template usage) first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of wetten
  2. (deprecated template usage) imperative of wetten

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old English wǣt, wāt, and weten (“to wet”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

wet

  1. wet, watery
  2. (weather) wet, rainy
  3. liquid, fluid
  4. damp, moist, waterlogged
  5. (terrain) marshy, boggy
  6. (alchemy, medicine) Something that is considered alchemically wet
  7. teary, weepy
  8. bloody, bloodstained
  9. sweaty, having sweat

Descendants

References

Noun

wet (plural wetes or weten)

  1. Water or another liquid
  2. wetness; wateriness
  3. (alchemy, medicine) Alchemical wetness
  4. Rain, raininess

Descendants

References

Polish

Noun

wet

  1. genitive plural of weto

Tok Pisin

Etymology 1

From English wet.

Adjective

wet

  1. wet

Etymology 2

From English wait.

Verb

wet

  1. wait
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