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-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”).

adj

1. Made up of liquid or moisture, usually (but not always) water.
   Water is wet.
2. 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.
3. 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. 2000, Robert Allen Palmatier, Food: a dictionary of literal and nonliteral terms, page 372
   The new item is its first "wet," or sauce-topped, burrito. 2005, Restaurant business, Volume 104, Issues 1-10
   But I'm getting the wet burrito.” Ignacio looked down at some sort of a tomato sauce–covered tortilla tube. 2011, J. Gabriel Gates, Charlene Keel, Dark Territory, page 13
4. 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.
5. Of a sound recording: having had audio effects applied.
6. 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,
   February 2020 was officially the wettest February on record for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the second wettest (behind 1990) for Scotland. May 20 2020, Paul Stephen, “NR beats floods to secure tracks to Drax”, in Rail, page 58
7. (aviation) 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.
8. (slang) 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.
9. (slang, vulgar, of a female) Sexually aroused and thus having the vulva moistened with vaginal secretions.
   He got me all wet.
10. (Britain, slang) 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 … " 1924, Percy Marks, chapter XVII, in The Plastic Age
    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. 2020, Boris Johnson quoted in "Proms row: Johnson calls for end to 'cringing embarrassment' over UK history," by Jim Waterson, The Guardian, Aug. 25, 2020
    Don’t be so wet.
11. (retronym) Permitting alcoholic beverages.
    The wet states would be "the greatest beneficiaries" because the amendment would root out the liquor traffic within their cities. 1995, Richard F. Hamm, Shaping the Eighteenth Amendment
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. (biology, chemistry) Of a scientist or laboratory: working with biological or chemical matter.
14. (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
15. (slang, euphemistic) Involving assassination or "wet work".
    a wet affair; a wet job; wet stuff
16. (dated or obsolete, colloquial) 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.

noun

1. Liquid or moisture.
2. Rainy weather.
   Don't go out in the wet.
3. (Australia) Rainy season. (often capitalized)
   They'll be in the camp […] before the Wet's out, mark my words. 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XI, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, pages 186–7
   Once the wet kicks in up north, you can be stranded for months waiting for swollen rivers to subside to a crossable depth[.] 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 289
   He said he wanted to beat the clouds gathering, before the Wet had properly settled itself over the plains again. 2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 365
   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.
4. (Britain, UK politics, derogatory) A moderate Conservative; especially, one who opposed the hard-line policies of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
5. (colloquial) An alcoholic drink.
   ‘A pity,’ said Jim, ‘I thought we was going to have a free wet.’ 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 60
6. (US, colloquial) 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. c. 1952-1996, Noah S. Sweat, quoted in 1996
7. (motor racing, in the plural) 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. 2004, Jonathan Noble, Mark Hughes, Formula One Racing For Dummies, page 303
8. (colloquial, derogatory) 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'. 1984, British Book News, page 324
   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. 1990, Grant Naylor, Better Than Life

verb

1. (transitive) 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. 1941 December, G. H. Soole, “The Mountain Section of the C.P.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 530
2. (transitive, intransitive) To make or become wet.
   I try to show emotion, but my eyes won't seem to wet 2008, “Be Nice To Me”, in I Hate My Friends, performed by The Front Bottoms
3. (transitive) 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.
4. (transitive, soldering) To form an intermetallic bond between a solder and a metal substrate.
5. (transitive, informal) To celebrate by drinking alcohol.
   [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 […] 1826, Thomas Bayly Howell, Thomas Jones Howell, A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings
   to wet the baby's head
6. Misspelling of whet.
7. (US, MLE, MTE, slang) 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 May 5, 1992, House of Pain (lyrics and music), “Jump Around” (track 2), in House of Pain