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View synonyms for wet

wet

[ wet ]

adjective

, wet·ter, wet·test.
  1. moistened, covered, or soaked with water or some other liquid:

    wet hands.

    Antonyms: dry

  2. in a liquid form or state:

    wet paint.

  3. characterized by the presence or use of water or other liquid.
  4. moistened or dampened with rain; rainy:

    Wet streets make driving hazardous.

    Synonyms: misty

  5. allowing or favoring the sale of alcoholic beverages:

    a wet town.

  6. characterized by frequent rain, mist, etc.:

    the wet season.

  7. laden with a comparatively high percent of moisture or vapor, especially water vapor:

    There was a wet breeze from the west.

    Synonyms: humid

  8. Informal.
    1. marked by drinking:

      a wet night.

  9. using water or done under or in water, as certain chemical, mining, and manufacturing processes.


noun

  1. something that is or makes wet, as water or other liquid; moisture:

    The wet from the earth had made the basement unlivable.

    Synonyms: humidity

  2. damp weather; rain:

    Stay out of the wet as much as possible.

    Synonyms: drizzle

  3. a person in favor of allowing the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.
  4. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. wetback.

verb (used with object)

, wet or wet·ted, wet·ting.
  1. to make (something) wet, as by moistening or soaking (sometimes followed by through or down ):

    Wet your hands before soaping them.

  2. to urinate on or in:

    The dog had wet the carpet.

verb (used without object)

, wet or wet·ted, wet·ting.
  1. to become wet (sometimes followed by through or down ):

    Dampness may cause plastered walls to wet. My jacket has wet through.

  2. (of animals and children) to urinate.

wet

/ wɛt /

adjective

  1. moistened, covered, saturated, etc, with water or some other liquid
  2. not yet dry or solid

    wet varnish

  3. rainy, foggy, misty, or humid

    wet weather

  4. employing a liquid, usually water

    a wet method of chemical analysis

  5. characterized by or permitting the free sale of alcoholic beverages

    a wet state

  6. informal.
    feeble or foolish
  7. wet behind the ears informal.
    immature or inexperienced; naive
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. wetness or moisture
  2. damp or rainy weather
  3. informal.
    a Conservative politician who is considered not to be a hard-liner Compare dry
  4. informal.
    a feeble or foolish person
  5. a person who advocates free sale of alcoholic beverages
  6. the wet
    (in northern and central Australia) the rainy season
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to make or become wet
  2. to urinate on (something)
  3. dialect.
    tr to prepare (tea) by boiling or infusing
  4. wet one's whistle informal.
    to take an alcoholic drink
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˌwettaˈbility, noun
  • ˈwettish, adjective
  • ˈwetly, adverb
  • ˈwettable, adjective
  • ˈwetter, noun
  • ˈwetness, noun
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Other Words From

  • wetly adverb
  • wetness noun
  • wetter noun
  • wettish adjective
  • non·wetted adjective
  • re·wet verb rewet or rewetted rewetting
  • un·wet adjective
  • un·wetted adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of wet1

First recorded before 900; Middle English wett, past participle of weten, Old English wǣtan “to wet”; replacing Middle English weet, Old English wǣt, cognate with Old Frisian wēt, Old Norse vātr; akin to water
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Word History and Origins

Origin of wet1

Old English wǣt; related to Old Frisian wēt, Old Norse vātr, Old Slavonic vedro bucket
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. all wet, Informal. completely mistaken; in error:

    He insisted that our assumptions were all wet.

  2. wet behind the ears, immature; naive; green:

    She was too wet behind the ears to bear such responsibilities.

  3. wet out, to treat (fabric) with a wetting agent to increase its absorbency.
  4. wet one's whistle. whistle ( def 15 ).

More idioms and phrases containing wet

  • all wet
  • get one's feet wet
  • like (wet as) a drowned rat
  • mad as a hornet (wet hen)
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Synonym Study

Wet, drench, saturate, soak imply moistening something. To wet is to moisten in any manner with water or other liquid: to wet or dampen a cloth. Drench suggests wetting completely as by a downpour: A heavy rain drenched the fields. Saturate implies wetting to the limit of absorption: to saturate a sponge. To soak is to keep in a liquid for a time: to soak beans before baking.
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Example Sentences

Fidel jumped out and hopped into the ocean without getting wet.

Have you noticed there are some people who would love to put a big wet blanket on all of this?

After she “got her feet wet,” Knox began writing under her own name.

If those dry counties get wet, those border stores could find their revenue drying up.

A September poll found 79 percent of likely voters “believe that counties should decide for themselves whether to be wet or dry.”

He turned to the gentle accents of his sweet Alice, breathed in a letter which had been wet with her grateful tears.

Turn we our backs to the cold gloomy north, to the wet windy west, to the dry parching east—on to the south!

The farmer told him it was six miles; "but," he added, "you must ride sharp, or you will get a wet jacket before you reach it."

No; they shall stay at home, and never learn anything, sooner than go and get wet.

Her fat red cheeks would quiver with emotion, and be wet with briny tears, over the sorrows of Mr. Trollope's heroines.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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