Definition of "water"

water¹

/ˈwɔːtə/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural waters
1. (uncountable) A substance (of molecular formula H2O) found at room temperature and pressure as a clear liquid; it is present naturally as rain, and found in rivers, lakes and seas; its solid form is ice and its gaseous form is steam.
  Quotations
  Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy.
  2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist
  1. (uncountable, in particular) The liquid form of this substance: liquid H2O.
    Quotations
    Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.
    1835, Sir John Ross, Sir James Clark Ross, Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Volume 1, pages 284–5
    A water drop placed on the surface of ice can either spread or form a lens depending on the properties of the three phases involved in wetting, i.e., on the properties of the ice, water, and gas phases.
    2002, Arthur T. Hubbard, Encyclopedia of Surface and Colloid Science, page 4895
    Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything.
    2013 May 11, “The climate of Tibet: Pole-land”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8835, page 80
  2. (countable) A serving of liquid water.
    Quotations
    Joe bustled back and offered her a glass of wine but she shook her head. “Just a water, please.”
    2006, Lori Foster, Erin McCarthy, Amy Garvey, Bad Boys of Summer, page 91
2. (alchemy, philosophy) The aforementioned liquid, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy.
3. (uncountable or in the plural) Water in a body; an area of open water.
  Quotations
  Roſa. O vain peticioner, beg a greater matter,Thou now requeſts but Mooneſhine in the water.
  c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene i], page 138, column 2
  'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.
  1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
  The president expressed hope that creating rain over waters between the countries would help reduce pollution. Audio (US)(file)
  2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
4. (poetic, archaic or dialectal) A body of water, almost always a river.
  Quotations
  And as they went on their waye they cam vnto a certayne water and the gelded man ſayde: Se here is water what ſhall lett me to be baptiſed?
  1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], Acts viij:, folio clxvi, recto
  On one side lay the Ocean, and on oneLay a great water, and the moon was full.
  1842, Alfred Tennyson, “Morte d’Arthur”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], page 4
  But ere he came to Clyde's water, fu' loud the wind did blaw.
  1865, William Allingham, editor, The Ballad Book: a selection of the choicest British ballads, William and May Margaret, or the Water of Clyde
5. A combination of water and other substance(s).
  1. (sometimes countable) Mineral water.
  2. (countable, often in the plural) Spa water.
  3. (pharmacy) A solution in water of a gaseous or readily volatile substance.
  4. Urine.
    Quotations
    Ser Dunaver's squire Jodge could not hold his water when he slept.
    1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 2011, page 458
  5. Amniotic fluid or the amniotic sac containing it. (Used only in the plural in the UK but often also in the singular in North America.)
  6. (colloquial, medicine) Fluids in the body, especially when causing swelling.
6. (figuratively, in the plural or in the singular) A state of affairs; conditions; usually with an adjective indicating an adverse condition.
7. (colloquial, figuratively) A person's intuition.
8. (uncountable, dated, finance) Excess valuation of securities.
  Quotations
  Iowa Governor Will Fight Rock Island Reorganization. He Says That Under the New Plan Too Much Water Is Put Into the Stock—Believes Plan Is Out of Harmony with Iowa Laws.
  1902 August 2, “Too Much Water to Suit Cummins”, in The Atlanta Constitution
  the outstanding stock and bond obligations of the company were reduced from $34,000,000 to $24,000,000 by squeezing out the water.
  1920 April 11, “Says Stock 'Water' Didn't Affect Fare”, in New York Times
9. The limpidity and lustre of a precious stone, especially a diamond.
  Quotations
  And when she raised it to see what caused this agitation, she saw nothing—nothing but the vast solitary emerald which Queen Elizabeth had given her. And was that not enough? she asked. It was of the finest water.
  1928, Virginia Woolf, Orlando: A Biography, London: The Hogarth Press; republished as Orlando: A Biography (eBook no. 0200331h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, July 2015
10. A wavy, lustrous pattern or decoration such as is imparted to linen, silk, metals, etc.

water²

/ˈwɔːtə/

verb
third-person singular simple present waters, present participle watering, simple past and past participle watered
1. (transitive) To pour water into the soil surrounding (plants).
  Quotations
  Aunt Em had just come out of the house to water the cabbages when she looked up and saw Dorothy running toward her.
  1900, L. Frank Baum, chapter 24, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
2. (transitive) To wet or supply with water; to moisten; to overflow with water; to irrigate.
  Quotations
  tears watering the ground
  1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
  Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the woodlands.
  1847 November 1, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie, Boston, Mass.: William D. Ticknor & Company, part I
3. (transitive) To provide (animals) with water for drinking.
4. (intransitive) To get or take in water.
  Quotations
  After working the 1.30 p.m. through train from Forres to Aberdeen as far as Elgin, she returns tender first with a local passenger train and is then coaled and watered at Forres shed, and eventually works back to Perth on the 10.20 p.m. through freight.
  1944 January and February, W. McGowan Gradon, “Forres as a Railway Centre”, in Railway Magazine, page 23
5. (transitive, colloquial) To urinate onto.
6. (transitive) To dilute.
7. (transitive, dated, finance) To overvalue (securities), especially through deceptive accounting.
  Quotations
  such agencies would make it possible for the railroads to water stock and evade the law subjecting security issues to public regulation
  1930 April 10, “Calls Rail Holding Companies Threat”, in The Sun
8. (intransitive) To fill with or secrete water.
9. (transitive) To wet and calender, as cloth, so as to impart to it a lustrous appearance in wavy lines; to diversify with wavelike lines.

Definition of "water"

water1

noun

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water2

verb

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water¹

water²