Dictionary

water fear en · NOUN

Etymology

From water + fear.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A lack of affinity for water; hydrophobia.
   • This symptom which gave rise to the term hydrophobia or water-fear is the foundation of the cold water "cure." 1958, Louisiana Folklore Miscellany - Volume 1, Issues 3-4, page 54:
   • Both men and animals afflicted with rabies dread the appearance of water or any other liquid; hence the term, hydrophobia, or water-fear. 1921, Harold Melvin Stanford, The Standard Reference Work:
   • Those colloids which absorb considerable water are hydrophyllic colloids, that is, water-fond colloids; while those which absorb but little or none are hydrophobic colloids, that is, water-fear colloids. 1926, Principles of General Pharmacy and Chemistry:
2. (countable, uncountable) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see water, fear.
   • We are not aware of any careful cross-cultural or developmental work showing that water fear is innate, however. 2006, Michelle Genevieve Craske, Dirk Hermans, Debora Vansteenwegen, Fear and Learning: From Basic Processes to Clinical Implications:
   • The Lewis (1974) study of water fears also tested another variant of the modeling approach, participant modeling, in which the model carries out the feared activity with the fearful person. 2004, John R. Weisz, Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents:
   • One type of water fear harbored by many youngsters is directly traceable to an unfortunate childhood experience. 1947, The Journal of Health and Physical Education, volume 18, page 304:
   • Although the modeling-plus-participation treatment was the most effective in the reduction of water fears, both modeling alone and participation alone were more effective than a no-treatment control condition. 2013, Benjamin B. Lahey, Advances in Clinical Child Psychology, volume 1, page 310:
   • […] flick of hair a silly song waving out of the waterfear. 1969, Nimrod - Volume 7, Issue 1, page 19:
   • This latter possibility seems particularly plausible from the perspective of the nonassociative model of water fear described previously. 2001, Michael W. Vasey, Mark R. Dadds, The Developmental Psychopathology of Anxiety, page 195:

Forms

Relateds

water-fearing