Library / English Dictionary

WET

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: wetted    , wetter    , wettest    , wetting   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Wetness caused by water

Example:

drops of wet gleamed on the window

Synonyms:

moisture; wet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("wet" is a kind of...):

wetness (the condition of containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water))

Derivation:

wet (cause to become wet)

wet (containing moisture or volatile components)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Very drunk

Synonyms:

besotted; blind drunk; blotto; cockeyed; crocked; fuddled; loaded; pie-eyed; pissed; pixilated; plastered; slopped; sloshed; smashed; soaked; soused; sozzled; squiffy; stiff; tight; wet

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

drunk; gone; inebriated; intoxicated; ripped (stupefied or excited by a chemical substance (especially alcohol))

Domain usage:

argot; cant; jargon; lingo; patois; slang; vernacular (a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Consisting of or trading in alcoholic liquor

Example:

a wet canteen

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

alcoholic (characteristic of or containing alcohol)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Covered or soaked with a liquid such as water

Example:

wet weather

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

watery (filled with water)

washed (wet as from washing; sometimes used in combination)

undried (still wet or moist)

tacky ((of a glutinous liquid such as paint) not completely dried and slightly sticky to the touch)

sticky (moist as with undried perspiration and with clothing sticking to the body)

steaming; steamy (filled with steam or emitting moisture in the form of vapor or mist)

rainy; showery ((of weather) wet by periods of rain)

sloppy (wet or smeared with a spilled liquid or moist material)

rheumy (moist, damp, wet (especially of air))

reeking; watery (wet with secreted or exuded moisture such as sweat or tears)

muggy; steamy; sticky (hot or warm and humid)

misty (wet with mist)

humid (containing or characterized by a great deal of water vapor)

drippy; drizzly (wet with light rain)

sodden; soppy (wet through and through; thoroughly wet)

damp; dampish; moist (slightly wet)

clammy; dank (unpleasantly cool and humid)

boggy; marshy; miry; mucky; muddy; quaggy; sloppy; sloughy; soggy; squashy; swampy; waterlogged ((of soil) soft and watery)

besprent (sprinkled over)

bedewed; dewy (wet with dew)

Attribute:

wetness (the condition of containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water))

Antonym:

dry (free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet)

Derivation:

wetness (the condition of containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Producing or secreting milk

Example:

lactating cows

Synonyms:

lactating; wet

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

fresh (having recently calved and therefore able to give milk)

Antonym:

dry (not producing milk)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Supporting or permitting the legal production and sale of alcoholic beverages

Example:

a wet county

Classified under:

Adjectives

Antonym:

dry (opposed to or prohibiting the production and sale of alcoholic beverages)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Containing moisture or volatile components

Example:

wet paint

Classified under:

Adjectives

Antonym:

dry (lacking moisture or volatile components)

Derivation:

wet (wetness caused by water)

wetness (the condition of containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water))

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make one's bed or clothes wet by urinating

Example:

This eight year old boy still wets his bed

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "wet" is one way to...):

make; make water; micturate; pass water; pee; pee-pee; piddle; piss; puddle; relieve oneself; spend a penny; take a leak; urinate; wee; wee-wee (eliminate urine)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

wetter (someone suffering from enuresis; someone who urinates while asleep in bed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to become wet

Example:

Wet your face

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "wet" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wet"):

bedew (cover with drops of dew or as with dew)

douse; dowse; drench; soak; sop; souse (cover with liquid; pour liquid onto)

dampen; moisten; wash (make moist)

irrigate; water (supply with water, as with channels or ditches or streams)

besprinkle; sparge; sprinkle (scatter with liquid; wet lightly)

squirt (wet with a spurt of liquid)

douse; dowse (wet thoroughly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Antonym:

dry (remove the moisture from and make dry)

Derivation:

wet (wetness caused by water)

wetter (a workman who wets the work in a manufacturing process)

wetting (the act of making something wet)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I have cried over the good Sister's letter till I can feel it wet against my bosom, where it lies.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

She had heard and seen it all; and felt some curiosity to know whether the wet walk of this morning had produced any.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Two of her tears wetted his eyes and they grew clear again, and he could see with them as before.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I had dropped asleep at last, when I was awakened suddenly by something wet being pressed against my face, and by two warm arms which were cast round me.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I will see that you go not in the wet.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

But this he declined, as he was dirty and wet.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

She had to eat to live, and when she got her feet wet, she caught cold.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

But the lower edge of the sun is wet, and it will be beneath the sea ere long.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Montmorillonite forms when basalt is altered under wet and slightly acidic conditions.

(Aluminum-Bearing Site on Mars Draws NASA Visitor, NASA)

This made Dorothy so very angry that she picked up the bucket of water that stood near and dashed it over the Witch, wetting her from head to foot.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)