Dictionary

waterfright en · NOUN

Etymology

From water + fright. Compare Old English wæterfyrhtness (“fear of water, hydrophobia”).

Meanings

1. (countable, nonstandard, rare, uncountable) A fear of water; aquaphobia.
   • Leaving your dog sitting in dirty water will get its ears acclimatized to the sound of running water and kill this water fright it has. 2014, Joan Price, Do It Yourself Dog Grooming, page 4:
   • However, once you get the water-fright it is almost incurable, and perhaps not worth writing about. 2019, Stephen Graham, The Gentle Art of Tramping, page 81:
   • Possibly the foundation was subconscious memories of two water-frights, one on the ocean at six, one on a pond at thirteen ; but these were in themselves unimportant; and I have found, in my subconscious, few ideational or emotional associations. 1927, William Ellery Leonard, The Locomotive-God, page 279:
   • Others describe water fright as a condition marked by aversion to being bathed, cold, damp skin,and hyperkinesis, and yet others by fever and cold sweating even though the child is bundled and placed in the sun. 2010, Frank J. Lipp, The Mixe of Oaxaca: Religion, Ritual, and Healing:
   • By doing so, he wanted to produce a waterfright in Truman to prevent him from crossing the sea behind which he could find an exit from the false world. 2018, Garry W. Trompf, Gunner B. Mikkelsen, Jay Johnston, The Gnostic World:

Forms

Synonyms

water-fear · hydrophobia