I. ˈwet, usu -ed.+V verb
( wet or wetted ; wet or wetted ; wetting ; wets )
Etymology: Middle English weten, from Old English wǣtan, from wǣt, adjective, wet
transitive verb
1. : to make wet : soak or moisten with water or other liquid : dip in a liquid
sand wetted by the waves — G.W.Murray
wet his pencil and got ready to write — Josephine Pinckney
2. : to suffuse (the eyes) with tears : dampen (something) with tears : fall on and moisten (something)
3. : to take a drink or treat to a drink in celebration or honor of
wet a bargain
wet a commission in the army
4. : to soak (grain) in malting
5. : to urinate in or on
wet the bed
6. : to make (tea) by pouring boiling water on the leaves
I wet a cup of tea — Bryan MacMahon
intransitive verb
1. : to become wet
2. : urinate
•
- wet one's whistle
- wet the other eye
II. adjective
( wetter ; wettest )
Etymology: Middle English wet, wete, wette, partly from past participle of weten to wet & partly from Old English wǣt wet; akin to Old Frisian wēt wet, Old Norse vātr wet, vatn water — more at water
1.
a. : consisting of, containing, covered with, or soaked with water or some other liquid : having water or other liquid on the surface or penetrating beyond it : moist
wet tears
the wet sea
a wet floor
wet fields
got his clothes wet when he fell in the water
a rag wet with oil
cheeks wet with happy tears
b. : moistened by dipping in or sprinkling with water or other liquid
it had been raining and the newspaper at the door was wet
grass wet with dew
c. of natural gas : containing appreciable quantities of gasoline or other readily condensable hydrocarbons
2. : rainy: as
a. : having frequent rains
the wet season
b. : promising rain
a wet sky
c. : laden with or bearing moisture or vapor : humid
a wet wind
d. : accompanied by rain
the city gave us a wet welcome
3. : still moist enough to smudge or smear
the signature was still wet
wet paint
4. : not processed, dried, or reduced : remaining in or near the natural state of a freshly caught fish
5.
a. : devoted to, associated with, or used for drinking or conviviality
have a wet night — W.M.Thackeray
b. : addicted to drink
c. : showing some degree of intoxication : drunk , slopped
d. : consisting of alcoholic liquor
wet cargo
e. : trading in alcoholic liquor
a wet canteen
f. : permitting the manufacture and sale of alcoholic liquor : not prohibiting traffic in intoxicants
a wet county
g. : committed to or advocating a policy of permitting such traffic or opposed to its prohibition
a wet candidate
a wet platform
6. : preserved, bottled, or put up in liquid (as fruit in syrup or a zoological specimen in alcohol)
7. : lax in the observances of one's sect — used chiefly of a Friend
8. : employing or done by means of or in the presence of water or other liquid
wet extraction of copper
a wet process
— compare dry 3b
9. of a boat : tending to take water or spray over the bows or sides
10. : perversely wrong : away off : wide of the mark : misguided
he's all wet
11.
a. : designed to contain liquids : tight
a wet cask
wet barrel
b. : of or having reference to such containers
wet coopering
a wet cooper
12. : giving milk : lactating
a wet cow
13. : slow 5e
14. : grown in wet or damp soil
a wet crop
15. of stolen livestock : smuggled across a river by fording
16. : soiled with one's own urine — used chiefly of a baby
17. : not accepted as a good fellow or a regular guy
18. : sloppily sentimental
touches of silliness which might so easily have been merely wet — Kingsley Amis
Synonyms:
damp , dank , moist , humid : wet is a general term describing either something with an outer layer covered with water or other liquid or something soaked throughout more or less thoroughly
a wet sidewalk
drying her wet hands
wet clothes
a wet sponge
damp may suggest slight or moderate wetness, sometimes unpleasant, permeating, or dispiriting, sometimes useful
the chill and the vapor taken together told a poor tale of the island. It was plainly a damp, feverish, unhealthy spot — R.L.Stevenson
the rain poured down with quiet persistency. Everything in the boat was damp and clammy — J.K.Jerome
sheets should be damp when ironed
dank is almost never without the notion of sickly, disagreeable, or penetrating dampness
dank with the marshy moisture of many low grounds — Charles Dickens
passed his hand across his forehead. It was dank with clammy sweat — Oscar Wilde
from the jungle a dank sulphurous breeze exuded — Norman Mailer
moist suggests a moderate or slight wetness, enough to keep a thing from being described as dry
the moist forehead of a sick man
the depths of the valley, where the air was moist and cool — C.B.Nordhoff & J.N.Hall
humid usually applies to moisture in the air
the humid prairie heat, so nourishing to wheat and corn, so exhausting to human beings — Willa Cather
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English wet, wete, from Old English wǣt, wǣta, from wǣt, adjective, wet
1. : water , wetness , moisture
gleaming and trembling drops of wet — Marjory S. Douglas
carefully wringing the wet out — W.H.Hudson †1922
2.
a. : rainy weather : rain , rainstorm
stay out all night in the wet — H.L.Davis
b. chiefly Australia : the rainy season
had begun shearing, but were sorely hindered by the wet — Rachel Henning
3.
a. chiefly Britain : a drink of alcoholic liquor
cross over to the ale tent for your wet — A.J.Liebling
b. : an advocate of a policy of permitting the sale of intoxicating liquors — opposed to dry
the drys lied to make prohibition look good; the wets lied to make it look bad — G.W.Johnson
IV. adjective
1. Britain : lacking strength of character : namby-pamby
we thought him wet and violence petrified him — William Golding
2. Britain : belonging to the moderate or liberal wing of the Conservative Party
a character called Jeremy Cardhouse, MP, a wet … Conservative — Times Literary Supplement
•
- wet behind the ears
V. noun
Britain : one who is wet