WATER, n. Wauter. [G., Gr.]

1. A fluid, the most abundant and most necessary for living beings of any in nature, except air. Water when pure, is colorless, destitute of taste and smell, ponderous, transparent, and in a very small degree compressible. It is reposited in the earth in inexhaustible quantities, where it is preserved fresh and cool, and from which it issues in springs, which form streams and rivers. But the great reservoirs of water on the globe are the ocean, seas and lakes, which cover more than three fifths of its surface and from which it is raised by evaporation, and uniting with the air in the state of vapor, is wafted over the earth ready to be precipitated in the form of rain, snow or hail. Water by the abstraction or loss of heat, becomes solid or in other words, is converted into ice or snow; and by heat it is converted into steam, an elastic vapor, one of the most powerful agents in nature. Water is a compound of oxygen and hydrogen; two volumes or measures of hydrogen gas and one of oxygen gas. The proportion of the ingredients in weight, is 89 parts of oxygen to 11 of hydrogen. – Lavoisier.
2. The ocean; a sea; a lake; a river; any great collection of water; as in the phrases, to go by water, to travel by water.
3. Urine; the animal liquor secreted by the kidneys and discharged from the bladder.
4. The color or luster of a diamond or pearl, sometimes perhaps of other precious stones; as, a diamond of the first water, that is, perfectly pure and transparent. Hence the figurative phrase, a man or a genius of the first wafer, that is, of the first excellence.
5. Water is a name given to several liquid substances or humors in animal bodies; as, the water of the pericardium, of dropsy, &c. – Cyc. Mineral waters, are those waters which are so impregnated with foreign ingredients, such as gaseous, sulphureous and saline substances, as to give them medicinal, or at least sensible properties. Most natural waters contain more or less of these foreign substances, but the proportion is generally too minute to affect the senses. – D. Olmsted. To hold water, to be sound or tight. [Obsolete or vulgar.] – L'Estrange.

1. To shed water or liquid matter. His eyes began to water.
2. To get or take in water. The ship put into port to water. The mouth waters, a phrase denoting that a person has a longing desire.

1. To irrigate; to overflow with water, or to wet with water; as, to water land. Showers water the earth.
2. To supply with water. The hilly lands of New England are remarkably well watered with rivers and rivulets.
3. To supply with water for drink; as, to water cattle and horses.
4. To diversify; to wet and calender; to give a wavy appearance to; as, to water silk.

1. The fluid which descends from the clouds in rain, and which forms rivers, lakes, seas, etc.
   
   
   "We will drink water." Shak. "Powers of fire, air, water, and earth." Milton.

   * Pure water consists of hydrogen and oxygen, H₂O, and is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, transparent liquid, which is very slightly compressible. At its maximum density, 39° Fahr. or 4° C., it is the standard for specific gravities, one cubic centimeter weighing one gram. It freezes at 32° Fahr. or 0° C. and boils at 212° Fahr. or 100° C. (see Ice, Steam). It is the most important natural solvent, and is frequently impregnated with foreign matter which is mostly removed by distillation; hence, rain water is nearly pure. It is an important ingredient in the tissue of animals and plants, the human body containing about two thirds its weight of water.

2. To wet or supply with water; to moisten; to overflow with water; to irrigate; as, to water land; to water flowers.
   
   

   With tears watering the ground. Milton.

   Men whose lives gilded on like rivers that water the woodlands. Longfellow.

3. To shed, secrete, or fill with, water or liquid matter; as, his eyes began to water.
   
   

   If thine eyes can water for his death. Shak.

4. A body of water, standing or flowing; a lake, river, or other collection of water.
   
   

   Remembering he had passed over a small water a poor scholar when first coming to the university, he kneeled. Fuller.

5. To supply with water for drink; to cause or allow to drink; as, to water cattle and horses.
6. To get or take in water; as, the ship put into port to water.
   
   

   The mouth waters, a phrase denoting that a person or animal has a longing desire for something, since the sight of food often causes one who is hungry to have an increased flow of saliva.

7. Any liquid secretion, humor, or the like, resembling water; esp., the urine.
8. To wet and calender, as cloth, so as to impart to it a lustrous appearance in wavy lines; to diversify with wavelike lines; as, to water silk. Cf. Water, n., 6.
9. A solution in water of a gaseous or readily volatile substance; as, ammonia water.
   
   
   U. S. Pharm.
10. To add water to (anything), thereby extending the quantity or bulk while reducing the strength or quality; to extend; to dilute; to weaken.
    
    

    To water stock, to increase the capital stock of a company by issuing new stock, thus diminishing the value of the individual shares. Cf. Water, n., 7. [Brokers' Cant]

11. The limpidity and luster of a precious stone, especially a diamond; as, a diamond of the first water, that is, perfectly pure and transparent. Hence, of the first water, that is, of the first excellence.
12. A wavy, lustrous pattern or decoration such as is imparted to linen, silk, metals, etc. See Water, v. t., 3, Damask, v. t., and Damaskeen.
13. An addition to the shares representing the capital of a stock company so that the aggregate par value of the shares is increased while their value for investment is diminished, or "diluted."
    
    
    [Brokers' Cant]

    * Water is often used adjectively and in the formation of many self-explaining compounds; as, water drainage; water gauge, or water-gauge; waterfowl, water-fowl, or water fowl; water-beaten; water-borne, water- circled, water-girdled, water-rocked, etc.

    Hard water. See under Hard. -- Inch of water, a unit of measure of quantity of water, being the quantity which will flow through an orifice one inch square, or a circular orifice one inch in diameter, in a vertical surface, under a stated constant head; also called miner's inch, and water inch. The shape of the orifice and the head vary in different localities. In the Western United States, for hydraulic mining, the standard aperture is square and the head from 4 to 9 inches above its center. In Europe, for experimental hydraulics, the orifice is usually round and the head from ***frac1x12] of an inch to 1 inch above its top. -- Mineral water, waters which are so impregnated with foreign ingredients, such as gaseous, sulphureous, and saline substances, as to give them medicinal properties, or a particular flavor or temperature. -- Soft water, water not impregnated with lime or mineral salts. -- To hold water. See under Hold, v. t. -- To keep one's head above water, to keep afloat; fig., to avoid failure or sinking in the struggles of life. [Colloq.] -- To make water. (a) To pass urine. Swift. (b) (Naut.) To admit water; to leak. -- Water of crystallization (Chem.), the water combined with many salts in their crystalline form. This water is loosely, but, nevertheless, chemically, combined, for it is held in fixed and definite amount for each substance containing it. Thus, while pure copper sulphate, CuSO₄, is a white amorphous substance, blue vitriol, the crystallized form, CuSO₄.₅H₂O, contains five molecules of water of crystallization. -- Water on the brain (Med.), hydrocephalus. -- Water on the chest (Med.), hydrothorax.

    * Other phrases, in which water occurs as the first element, will be found in alphabetical order in the Vocabulary.