wet

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-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-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”), Swedish and Norwegian våt (“wet”), Danish våd (“wet”), Faroese vátur (“wet”), Icelandic votur (“wet”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: wĕt, IPA^(key): /wɛt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt
• Homophone: whet (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Adjective

wet (comparative wetter, superlative wettest)

1. Of an object, etc, covered with or impregnated with liquid, usually (but not always) water.

   I went out in the rain and now my clothes are all wet.

2. Made up of liquid or moisture, usually (but not always) water.

   Water is wet.

3. Of weather or a time period, rainy.

   It’s going to be wet tomorrow.

   • Milton

     wet October's torrent flood

4. (slang, vulgar) Sexually aroused and thus having a vulva moistened with vaginal secretions.

   He got me all wet.

5. (slang, vulgar, chiefly of a penis) Lubricated with vaginal discharge or saliva as a result of sexual intercourse.

   It's been ages since I got my dong wet.

6. (Britain, informal) Ineffectual, feeble, showing no strength of character.

   Don't be so wet.

7. (slang, of a person) Inexperienced in a task or profession; having the characteristics of a rookie.

   That guy's wet; after all, he just started yesterday.

8. (of a scientist or laboratory) Working with chemical or biological matter.
9. (chemistry) 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

10. Permitting alcoholic beverages, as during Prohibition.
    • 1995, Richard F. Hamm, Shaping the Eighteenth Amendment:

      The wet states would be "the greatest beneficiaries" because the amendment would root out the liquor traffic within their cities.

11. (of fountain pens and calligraphy) 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.
12. (slang, archaic) 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 […]

13. (of a burrito, sandwich, etc.) Covered in a sauce.
    • 2000, Robert Allen Palmatier, Food: a dictionary of literal and nonliteral terms, page 372:

      A chimichanga (MWCD: 1982) is a burrito that is deep-fried, rather than baked, and is served in the fashion of a wet burrito.

    • 2005, Restaurant business, Volume 104, Issues 1-10

      The new item is its first "wet," or sauce-topped, burrito.

    • 2011, J. Gabriel Gates, Charlene Keel, Dark Territory, page 13

      But I'm getting the wet burrito.” Ignacio looked down at some sort of a tomato sauce–covered tortilla tube.

14. (of a sound recording) Having had audio effects applied.

Noun

wet (plural wets)

1. Liquid or moisture.
   • Milton

     Now the sun, with more effectual beams, / Had cheered the face of earth, and dried the wet / From drooping plant.

2. Rainy weather.

   Don't go out in the wet.

3. (Australia) Rainy season. (often capitalized)
   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1943, Chapter XI, page 186-7,

     They'll be in the camp […] before the Wet's out, mark my words.

   • 2015, David Andrew, The Complete Guide to Finding the Mammals of Australia, Csiro Publishing, Appendix B, page 380

     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.

4. (Britain, pejorative) A moderate Conservative.
5. (colloquial) An alcoholic drink.
   • 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York 2007, page 60:

     ‘A pity,’ said Jim, ‘I thought we was going to have a free wet.’

6. (US, colloquial) One who supports the consumption of alcohol and thus opposes Prohibition.
   • Noah S. Sweat, Jr.

     The drys were as unhappy with the second part of the speech as the wets were with the first half.

Verb

wet (third-person singular simple present wets, present participle wetting, simple past and past participle wet or wetted)

1. (transitive) To cover or impregnate with liquid.
2. (transitive) To accidentally urinate in or on.

   Johnny wets the bed several times a week.

3. (intransitive) To make or become wet.
4. (transitive, soldering) To form an intermetallic bond between a solder and a metal substrate.
5. Misspelling of whet.

Anagrams

• Tew, ewt, tew

Etymology

Borrowed from Bislama wet (“wet”).

Adjective

wet

1. (Southwest Santo) wet

References

• Greenhill, S.J., Blust. R, & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.

Etymology

From Middle Dutch wet, wette, wit, weet, from Old Dutch witat, witut (“rule, law”). Compare Low German Wet, Old High German wizzōd, Old Frisian witut, witat (“host”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐍉𐌸 (witōþ, “law”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛt

• audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ʋɛt/

Noun

wet f (plural wetten, diminutive wetje n)

1. law (rule)
2. law (body of rules declared and/or enforced by a government)
3. (physics) law

Verb

wet

1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of wetten
2. imperative of wetten

See also

• rechten

Alternative forms

• wett, wette, wete, weet, weete

Etymology

From Old English wǣt, wāt, and weten (“to wet”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɛt/, /wɛːt/

Adjective

wet

1. wet, watery
2. (weather) wet, rainy
3. liquid, fluid
4. damp, moist, waterlogged
5. (terrain) marshy, boggy
6. (alchemy, medicine) Something that is considered alchemically wet
7. teary, weepy
8. bloody, bloodstained
9. sweaty, having sweat

Noun

wet (plural wetes or weten)

1. Water or another liquid
2. wetness; wateriness
3. (alchemy, medicine) Alchemical wetness
4. Rain, raininess

Noun

wet

1. genitive plural of weto