Meaning of water in English

water

noun

/ˈwɔː.tər/ us

/ˈwɑː.t̬ɚ/

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A1 [ U ]

a clear liquid, without colour or taste, that falls from the sky as rain and is necessary for animal and plant life:

a bottle/drink/glass of water

bottled/mineral/tap water

hot/cold water

drop of water Can I have a drop of water in my whisky, please?

Is there enough hot water for a bath?

The human body is about 50 percent water.

Harjono Amidjojo/EyeEm/GettyImages

A2 [ U ]

an area of water, such as the sea, a lake, or a swimming pool:

The water's warm - are you coming in?

under water I don't like getting my head under (= in) water.

Dad, I swam a whole length of the pool under water (= with the whole head and body below the surface of the water)!

[ U ]

the level of an area of water:

The river is difficult to cross during periods of high water.

[ U ] old-fashioned

a way of referring to urine (= yellowish liquid waste from the body):

pass water Is there any pain when you pass water?

If your water is dark, it may mean you are dehydrated.

waters [ plural ]

the area of sea near to and belonging to a particular country:

St Lucia depends on its clean coastal waters for its income.

the water contained in a particular lake, river, or part of the sea:

In the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, oil rigs attract fish.

(US water)

the liquid that surrounds a baby inside the womb (= the organ in the body in which a baby develops before birth):

At 3 a.m. her waters broke, and the baby was born soon after.

used with certain adjectives to refer to a situation, especially one that is difficult and possibly unpleasant or dangerous, or that has not been not previously experienced so that many facts about it are not clear:

murky waters In the last two chapters of the book, she enters the murky waters of male sexuality.

the waters [ plural ]

water from a spring, especially when used in the past for drinking or swimming in, in order to improve the health:

take the waters People used to come to this city to take (= drink or swim in) the waters.

More examplesFewer examples

Hot water circulates through the heating system.
The water in the lake is so clear that you can see the bottom.
The water supply is being tested for contamination.
You'll dehydrate very quickly in this heat, if you don't drink lots of water.
The light reflected off the surface of the water.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Water in general

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Floods, tides & currents

Animal physiology: urine & urinating

Idioms

(like) water off a duck's back
turn water into wine
water under the bridge

water

verb

/ˈwɔː.tər/ us

/ˈwɑː.t̬ɚ/

water verb (GIVE WATER)

B2 [ T ]

to pour water on to plants or the soil that they are growing in:

I've asked my neighbour to water the plants while I'm away.

[ T ]

to give an animal water to drink:

The horses had been fed and watered.

More examplesFewer examples

I've just watered the tomatoes.
The cucumbers need to be watered every day.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Gardening - general words

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Animal food

water verb (PRODUCE LIQUID)

C2 [ I ]

If your mouth waters, it produces a lot of saliva, usually because you can see or smell some food that you would like to eat:

The smell of that bread is making my mouth water!

[ I ]

When your eyes water, they produce tears but not because you are unhappy:

How do you stop your eyes from watering when you're cutting up onions?

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Animal physiology: bodily fluids & their production

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Phrasal verb

water something down

-water

suffix

/ -wɔː.tər/ us

/ -wɑː.t̬ɚ/

used to form adjectives:

freshwater fish

a saltwater lagoon

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Water in general

See more results »

(Definition of water from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

water | American Dictionary

water

noun [ U ]

/ˈwɔ·t̬ər, ˈwɑt̬·ər/

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a clear, colorless liquid that falls from the sky as rain and is necessary for animal and plant life:

a drink/glass of water

bottled/tap water

cold/hot water

I’m boiling water to make some more coffee.

The water often refers to an area of water, such as the sea or a lake:

The water’s much warmer today – are you coming for a swim?

Waters is an area of natural water, such as a part of the sea:

[ pl ] coastal waters

Idiom

water under the bridge

water

verb [ I/T ]

/ˈwɔ·t̬ər, ˈwɑt̬·ər/

to provide water to a plant or animal:

[ T ] I’ve asked my neighbor to water the plants while I’m away.

When your eyes water, they produce tears but not because you are unhappy:

[ I ] The icy wind made his eyes water.

If your mouth waters, it produces a lot of saliva, usually because you can see or smell food that you would like to eat:

[ I ] The smell of that bread is making my mouth water.

Phrasal verb

water down something

(Definition of water from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of water

water

It developed plans to offer medical care, hospital treatment, electricity, and water trucking.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Besides nutrients and light, rice and weeds also competed for water.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This testa probably reduced the rate of water loss and protected the embryo from physical injury.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The first term represents a bare site and the next two terms refer to the interaction with water and with denaturant respectively.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In addition, the dielectric constant in the pore region should be set to 1 where the water molecules are represented explicitly (but see discussion below).

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The food/water mixture was replaced every other day.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In order to define a radius for the ion one needs a constant value for the radius of the water.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The water-transporting function of aquaporins is likely responsible for these roles.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The existence of discrete levels of critical water potential is suggestive of specific stresses that cells must accommodate during the acquisition of desiccation tolerance.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Removing water from living tissues causes a series of dehydration stresses.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

No town could have survived without water supplies.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This is not necessarily so, as is evidenced by the financial problems of the potable water systems in all three states.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Then the water composition approximately oscillates at each point of the aquifer in phase with the water velocity.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In addition to the milking, the izinceku also tended to the king's oxen and fetched water for the king in gourds.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.