wet
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: wĕt
ipa: /wɛt/
rhymes: -ɛt
homophone: whet (wine–whine merger)
Forms: form: wets
form: wetting
form: wet
form: wet
form: wetted
form: wetted
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”).
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 1941 December, G. H. Soole, “The Mountain Section of the C.P.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 530:
text: 'Mr Kelly's Car Wash' was a toy made by Remco where a toy car could be automatically wetted, scrubbed and dried.
ref: 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 90:
synonyms: drench
get wet
soak
sog
glosses: To cover or impregnate with liquid.
examples: text: I try to show emotion, but my eyes won't seem to wet
ref: 2008, “Be Nice To Me”, in I Hate My Friends, performed by The Front Bottoms:
synonyms: dampen
dew
get wet
moisten
glosses: To make or become wet.
examples: text: Johnny wets the bed several times a week.
text: She was laughing so hard she wet her pants.
glosses: To make (oneself, clothing, a bed, etc.) wet by accidental urination.
qualifier: soldering
glosses: To form an intermetallic bond between a solder and a metal substrate.
examples: text: to wet the baby’s head
text: [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 […]
ref: 1826, Thomas Bayly Howell, Thomas Jones Howell, A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings:
glosses: To celebrate by drinking alcohol.
examples: text: I'm coming to get ya, I'm coming to get ya / Spitting out lyrics, homie, I'll wet ya
ref: 1992 May 5, House of Pain, “Jump Around” (track 2), in House of Pain:
synonyms: word: do away with
word: do violence to
word: abuse
word: annoy
word: bewound
word: damage
word: damnify
word: dere
word: do damage to
word: do for
word: do ill
word: do violence to
word: forwork
word: grieve
word: harm
word: harrow
word: hurt
word: injure
word: maul
word: misdo
word: put someone in hospital
word: scaith
word: scathe
word: vulnerate
word: wet
word: wound
word: annihilate
word: bag
word: baptize
word: bereave of life
word: blight
word: bring down
word: bump off
word: bury
word: cack
word: compromised to a permanent end
word: croak
word: crush
word: dash
word: deactivate
word: dead
word: demolish
word: destroy
word: dispatch
word: dispose of
word: do
word: do in
word: dust
word: eliminate
word: end
word: eradicate
word: ex
word: exterminate
word: finish
word: finish off
word: flatten
word: grease
word: knock off
word: lay waste to
word: make away with
word: mortify
word: neutralize
word: obliterate
word: off
word: pay off
word: pick off
word: polish off
word: pop off
word: punch someone's ticket
word: put an end to
word: put down
word: put someone out of their misery
word: put six feet under
word: put to sleep
word: ravage
word: rub out
word: ruin
word: scotch
word: scupper
word: scuttle
word: send to eternity
word: send to hell
word: send to the grave
word: send to the great beyond
word: send to the next life
word: slay
word: slaughter
word: smash
word: smite
word: snuff
word: squash
word: stiff
word: stop someone's clock
word: take
word: terminate
word: terminate with extreme prejudice
word: top off
word: top
word: torpedo
word: take care of
word: take down
word: take out
word: waste
word: wax
word: wet
word: whack
word: wipe out
word: wreck
glosses: To kill or seriously injure.
glosses: Misspelling of whet.
Derived terms: word: bewet
word: wet down
word: wet my lips
word: wet one's beak
word: wet oneself
word: wet one's whistle
word: wet out
word: wetted area
word: wetten
word: wet the baby's head
word: wet the other eye
word: wet the shamrock
word: wetting