wet

verb

cause to be wet

L25304 on Wikidata ↗

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

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adjective

covered with or impregnated with liquid

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Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈwɛt/ / [ˈwɛt] / /ˈwet/

adj

Etymology: From Middle English wet (“wet, moistened”), wett, wette, past participle of Middle English weten (“to wet”), from Old English wǣtan (“to wet, moisten, water”), from Proto-West Germanic *wātijan, from Proto-Germanic *wētijaną (“to wet, make wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water, wet”) (also the source of water). Cognate with Scots weit, wete (“to wet”), Saterland Frisian wäitje (“to wet; drench”), Icelandic væta (“to wet”). Compare also Middle English weet (“wet”), from Old English wǣt (“wet, moist, rainy”), from Proto-West Germanic *wāt, from Proto-Germanic *wētaz (“wet, moist”), related to Scots weit, weet, wat (“wet”), North Frisian wiat, weet, wäit (“wet”), Saterland Frisian wäit (“wet”), West Frisian wiet (“wet”), Middle Dutch wet (“wet, damp, watery”), Swedish and Norwegian våt (“wet”), Danish våd (“wet”), Faroese vátur (“wet”), Icelandic votur (“wet”).

Made up of liquid or moisture, usually (but not always) water.
“Water is wet.”
Of an object, etc.: covered or impregnated with liquid, usually (but not always) water.
“I went out in the rain and now my clothes are all wet.”
“The baby is wet and needs its nappy changed.”
Of a burrito, sandwich, or other food: covered in a sauce.
“A chimichanga (MWCD: 1982) is a burrito that is deep-fried, rather than baked, and is served in the fashion of a wet burrito.”
“The new item is its first "wet," or sauce-topped, burrito.”
Of calligraphy and fountain pens: depositing a large amount of ink from the nib or the feed.
“This pen’s a wet writer, so it’ll feather on this cheap paper.”
Of a sound recording: having had audio effects applied.
Of weather or a time period: rainy.
“It’s going to be wet tomorrow.”
“1637, John Milton, Comus, London: Humphrey Robinson, p. 32, Summer drouth, or singed aire Never scorch thy tresses faire, Nor wet Octobers torrent flood Thy molten crystall fill with mudde,”
Using afterburners or water injection for increased engine thrust.
“This fighter jet's engine is rated for a maximum wet thrust of 450 kilonewtons, more than twice its max dry thrust, but the afterburner eats up a huge amount of fuel.”
Of a person: inexperienced in a profession or task; having the characteristics of a rookie.
“That guy’s wet; after all, he just started yesterday.”
Sexually aroused and thus having the vulva moistened with vaginal secretions.
“He got me all wet.”
“I'm gonna get you wet. I'm gonna get you very wet. I know how to do this.”
Ineffectual, feeble, showing no strength of character.
“"Wet! What currency that bit of slang has—and what awful power. It took me a long time to find out what the word meant, but after long research I think that I know. A man is wet if he isn't a 'regular guy'; he is wet if he isn't 'smooth'; he is wet if he has intellectual interests and lets the mob discover them; and, strangely enough, he is wet by the same token if he is utterly stupid. He is wet if he doesn't show at least a tendency to dissipate, but he isn't wet if he dissipates to excess. A man will be branded as wet for any of these reasons, and once he is so branded, he might as well leave college … "”
“I think it’s time we stopped our cringing embarrassment about our history, about our traditions, and about our culture, and we stopped this general fight of self-recrimination and wetness.”
Permitting alcoholic beverages.
“The wet states would be "the greatest beneficiaries" because the amendment would root out the liquor traffic within their cities.”
Refreshed with liquor; drunk.
“c. 1694, Matthew Prior, “Celia to Damon” […] When my lost Lover the tall Ship ascends, / With Musick gay, and wet with Iovial Friends […]”
Of a scientist or laboratory: working with biological or chemical matter.
Employing, or done by means of, water or some other liquid.
“the wet extraction of copper, in distinction from dry extraction in which dry heat or fusion is employed”
Involving assassination or "wet work".
“a wet affair; a wet job; wet stuff”
Of a board or flop: enabling the creation of many or of strong hands; e.g. containing connectors or suited cards. (Compare dry).
Of a Quaker: liberal with respect to religious observance.
“1811. John Adams, Letter to the Boston Patriot, §25. Reprinted in 1856. Charles Francis Adams (ed.), The Life of John Adams, Second President of The United States. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, p. 661. The Catholics thought him almost a Catholic. The Church of England claimed him as one of them. The Presbyterians thought him half a Presbyterian, and the Friends believed him a wet Quaker. The dissenting clergymen in England and America were among the most distinguished asserters and propagators of his renown. Indeed, all sects considered him, and I believe justly, a friend to unlimited toleration in matters of religion.”
With a usual complement or consummation; potent.

noun

Liquid or moisture.
“Now the sun, with more effectual beams, / Had cheered the face of earth, and dried the wet / From drooping plant.”
Rainy weather.
“Don't go out in the wet.”
Rainy season. (often capitalized)
“They'll be in the camp […] before the Wet's out, mark my words.”
“Once the wet kicks in up north, you can be stranded for months waiting for swollen rivers to subside to a crossable depth[.]”
A moderate Conservative; especially, one who opposed the hard-line policies of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
An alcoholic drink.
“‘A pity,’ said Jim, ‘I thought we was going to have a free wet.’”
One who supports the consumption of alcohol and thus opposes Prohibition.
“The drys were as unhappy with the second part of the speech as the wets were with the first half.”
A tyre for use in wet weather.
“Wets, designed to channel water away from underneath the tyres, maximise grip and minimise the chance of aquaplaning.”
A weak or sentimental person; a wimp or softie.
“Above all, he [Nigel Molesworth] is his own man, resolutely committed to a view of life that divides his fellow pupils into 'sissies', 'wets', 'swots' and 'old lags'.”
“Rimmer had never been terribly good at sports. In fact, he'd been one of the group of 'wets, weirdos and fatties' who stood by the touchline at ball games, worrying about their chapped legs, and fleeing whenever the ball came near them.”
Alternative form of wat (“stew or curry eaten in Ethiopia and Eritrea”).

phrase

Acronym of write everything twice, a humorous backronym coined to serve as the antonym of DRY, punning on the opposition of wet and dry.

verb

To cover or impregnate with liquid.
“There is scanty room for a railway, and in many places the rails are wetted by the spray from the Illecillewaet, which is the Indian word for a raging torrent.”
“'Mr Kelly's Car Wash' was a toy made by Remco where a toy car could be automatically wetted, scrubbed and dried.”
To make or become wet.
“I try to show emotion, but my eyes won't seem to wet”
To make (oneself, clothing, a bed, etc.) wet by accidental urination.
“Johnny wets the bed several times a week.”
“She was laughing so hard she wet her pants.”
To form an intermetallic bond between a solder and a metal substrate.
To celebrate by drinking alcohol.
“to wet the baby’s head”
“[He] invited some officers and other gentlemen to dine with him at the Dolphin tavern in Tower street, June 17, 1706, in order to wet his commission […]”
To kill or seriously injure.
“I'm coming to get ya, I'm coming to get ya / Spitting out lyrics, homie, I'll wet ya”
Misspelling of whet.