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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

waterless en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • (US) audio
  • /ˈwɔːtə(ɹ)ləs/

Etymology

From Middle English waterles, waterlees, from Old English wæterlēas (“waterless”), from Proto-Germanic *watōrlausaz, equivalent to water + -less. Cognate with Saterland Frisian woaterloos (“waterless”), West Frisian wetterleas (“waterless”), Dutch waterloos (“waterless”), German wasserlos (“waterless”), Swedish vattenlös (“waterless”), Icelandic vatnslaus (“waterless”).

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable) Dry, arid, lacking water.
    • The waterless desert can kill in many ways but dehydration is often fastest.
    • Also the Russian lines over which these locomotives run pass through long stretches of waterless country, where the only alternative to hauling additional water-tank wagons is to conserve the water supply by condensing. 1946 January and February, “The Why and The Wherefore: Condensing Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 62:
    • Contrasting the luxurious life of the foreigners with the overcrowded, fetid, waterless existence of the Arabs. 1978 April 29, Robert Etherington, “Cast As Decandents, Again”, in Gay Community News, page 13:
  2. (not-comparable) Not requiring water.
    • How does a waterless urinal have a drain trap?

Deriveds

waterlessly · waterlessness

Relateds

Westley Waterless

Translations (13)

pl bezwodny (lacking water) · grc ἄνυδρος (lacking water) · ca anhidre (lacking water) · ota صوسز (lacking water) · es sin agua (lacking water) · bg безводен (lacking water) · eo senakva (lacking water) · tr susuz (lacking water) · da vandløs (lacking water) · el άνυδρος (lacking water) · nb vannløs (lacking water) · gd gun uisge (lacking water) · io senaqua (lacking water)