wet
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: wĕt
ipa: /wɛt/
rhymes: -ɛt
homophone: whet (wine–whine merger)
Forms: form: wets
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: Now the sun, with more effectual beams, / Had cheered the face of earth, and dried the wet / From drooping plant.
ref: 1671, John Milton, “The Fourth Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:
glosses: Liquid or moisture.
examples: text: Don't go out in the wet.
glosses: Rainy weather.
examples: text: They'll be in the camp […] before the Wet's out, mark my words.
ref: 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XI, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, pages 186–7:
text: Once the wet kicks in up north, you can be stranded for months waiting for swollen rivers to subside to a crossable depth[.]
ref: 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 289:
text: He said he wanted to beat the clouds gathering, before the Wet had properly settled itself over the plains again.
ref: 2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 365:
text: 2015, David Andrew, The Complete Guide to Finding the Mammals of Australia, Csiro Publishing, Appendix B, page 380 https://books.google.ca/books?id=XBnyCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Northern Australia is tropical and subject to a prolonged wet season (often called simply 'the Wet') that may last from December to April […] . The Wet features high humidity, heavy rain, flooding that can cut off towns and roads for days on end, and, in most years, violent cyclones that cause high seas, widespread damage and sometimes loss of life.
glosses: Rainy season. (often capitalized)
topics: government
politics
antonyms: dry
glosses: A moderate Conservative; especially, one who opposed the hard-line policies of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
examples: text: ‘A pity,’ said Jim, ‘I thought we was going to have a free wet.’
ref: 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 60:
glosses: An alcoholic drink.
examples: text: The drys were as unhappy with the second part of the speech as the wets were with the first half.
ref: c. 1952-1996, Noah S. Sweat, quoted in 1996
glosses: One who supports the consumption of alcohol and thus opposes Prohibition.
examples: text: Wets, designed to channel water away from underneath the tyres, maximise grip and minimise the chance of aquaplaning.
ref: 2004, Jonathan Noble, Mark Hughes, Formula One Racing For Dummies, page 303:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
motor-racing
racing
sports
glosses: A tyre for use in wet weather.
examples: text: 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'.
ref: 1984, British Book News, page 324:
text: 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.
ref: 1990, Grant Naylor, Better Than Life:
glosses: A weak or sentimental person; a wimp or softie.
glosses: Alternative form of wat (“stew or curry eaten in Ethiopia and Eritrea”).