(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
Water is a clear thin liquid that has no colour or taste when it is pure. It falls from clouds as rain and enters rivers and seas. All animals and people need ~ in order to live.
Get me a glass of ~.
...the sound of ~ hammering on the metal roof.
...a trio of children playing along the ~’s edge.
N-UNCOUNT
2.
You use ~s to refer to a large area of sea, especially the area of sea which is near to a country and which is regarded as belonging to it.
The ship will remain outside Chinese territorial ~s.
...the open ~s of the Arctic Ocean.
N-PLURAL: with supp
3.
You sometimes use ~s to refer to a situation which is very complex or difficult.
...the man brought in to guide him through troubled ~s...
The British Government may be in stormy economic ~s.
N-PLURAL: adj N
4.
If you ~ plants, you pour ~ over them in order to help them to grow.
He went out to ~ the plants.
VERB: V n
5.
If your eyes ~, tears build up in them because they are hurting or because you are upset.
His eyes ~ed from cigarette smoke.
VERB: V
6.
If you say that your mouth is ~ing, you mean that you can smell or see some nice food and you might mean that your mouth is producing a liquid.
...cookies to make your mouth ~.
VERB: V
see also mouth-~ing
7.
When a pregnant woman’s ~s break, the fluid in her womb that surrounds the baby passes out of her body, showing that the baby is ready to be born. A doctor or midwife can break a woman’s ~s so that the birth can begin.
My ~s broke at six in the morning and within four hours Jamie was born.
PHRASE: V inflects
8.
If you say that an event or incident is ~ under the bridge, you mean that it has happened and cannot now be changed, so there is no point in worrying about it any more.
He was relieved his time in jail was over and regarded it as ~ under the bridge.
PHRASE: v-link PHR
9.
If you are in deep ~, you are in a difficult or awkward situation.
I could tell that we were getting off the subject and into deep ~.
PHRASE
10.
If an argument or theory does not hold ~, it does not seem to be reasonable or be in accordance with the facts.
This argument simply cannot hold ~ in Europe.
PHRASE: V inflects, usu with brd-neg
11.
If you are in hot ~, you are in trouble. (INFORMAL)
The company has already been in hot ~ over high prices this year.
PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v
12.
If you pour cold ~ on an idea or suggestion, you show that you have a low opinion of it.
City economists pour cold ~ on the idea that the economic recovery has begun.
PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n
13.
If you test the ~ or test the ~s, you try to find out what reaction an action or idea will get before you do it or tell it to people.
You should be cautious when getting involved and test the ~ before committing yourself.
PHRASE: V and N inflect
14.
like ~ off a duck’s back: see duck
to take to something like a duck to ~: see duck
to keep your head above ~: see head