MOISTEN


Meaning of MOISTEN in English

moist ‧ en /ˈmɔɪs ə n/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]

to make something slightly wet:

Moisten the clay if it seems too dry.

She moistened her lips (=made her lips wet with her tongue) .

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THESAURUS

▪ wet to put water or another liquid onto something to make it wet. In spoken English, people will often use get something wet rather than wet :

He wet the washcloth and washed Tom’s face.

▪ splash to make someone or something wet by making a lot of small drops of water fall onto them:

The kids were playing around in the pool, splashing each other.

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I accidentally splashed soup onto my shirt.

▪ soak to put something in water for a long time or to make something very wet – use this especially when something is put into water or the water comes up from underneath to make it wet:

Soak the beans overnight before cooking.

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The rain had come in through the bottom of our tent and completely soaked our clothes.

▪ drench to make someone or something extremely wet with a large amount of water – use this especially when water is poured or falls on something:

He drenched us all with the hose.

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Her shirt was drenched in sweat.

▪ saturate formal to completely cover or fill something with liquid, so that it is wet all the way through:

Heavy rains had saturated the ground.

▪ flood to cover an area of land with a large amount of water:

Farmers flood the fields in order to grow rice.

▪ moisten to make something slightly wet by putting a small amount of water or another liquid on it, especially to stop it from getting too dry:

Add just enough water to moisten the cake mixture.

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Tom paused and moistened his lips.

▪ dampen to make something slightly wet by putting a little water on it:

Rain came in through the window, dampening the curtains.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.