waterless, a.
(ˈwɔːtəlɪs)
[OE. waterléas = Du. waterloos, OHG. waȥȥerlôs (mod.G. wasserlos); see water n. and -less.]
a. Destitute of water; containing no water; unsupplied with water.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xi. 24 Per loca inaquosa, ðerh stowa wæterleasa. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xxxvii. 24 [Hiᵹ] dydon hine on ðone wæter-leasan pytt. a 1300 Cursor M. 4156 In þis wast i wat a pite, Dri and waterles es it. a 1300 E.E. Psalter cvi. 35 He set..in out-gang of watres land water-les [L. sine aqua]. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 180 A monk, whan he is recchelees Is likned til a fissh þat is waterlees. c 1400 Sege Jerusalem (E.E.T.S.) 44 Þoȝ ȝe waterles wede, wynne ȝe noȝt o droppe. c 1400 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xii, And shortly þe houndes vnclene holde and vnclene kept, or longe waterles, hath communlych þe maniewe. 1526 Tindale Luke xi. 24 When the vnclene sprete is gone out of a man, he walketh through waterlesse places sekynge reest. 1577 Kendall Flowers Epigr. 42 b, Can seas be waterles and drie? can hilles be dales without? 1643 Trapp Gen. l. 21 To requite your kindness, that consulted to starve me, in the waterless pit. 1828 Duppa Trav. Italy, etc. 176 Here and there a little waterless fountain completes the design. 1854 Surtees Handley Cr. lix. (1901) II. 140 A half-buttered muffin mounts a waterless slop-basin; a dirty egg accompanies some toasted wedges of bread. 1893 F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 18 Through this seventy miles of waterless country. 1902 Times 24 Nov. 5/2 The long waterless marches are beginning to have their effect upon the camels. |
b. waterless pit: in the 17th c. often fig. with allusion to Zech. ix. 11.
| 1616 J. B. Serm. 25 And they will deliuer thy soule..from the water-lesse pits. 1675 T. Brooks Golden Key Wks. 1867 V. 350 The Babylonish captivity..was that waterless pit,..out of which they were delivered by virtue of the blood of the convenant. 1690 C. Nesse Old & New Test. I. 197 The prison of this waterless or comfortless pit. |
c. Of processes, apparatus, etc.: employing or needing no water.
| 1930 Engineering 6 June 742/3 One advantage of the waterless gasholder was found to be the absence of a succession of sudden increases and decreases in pressure. 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 313/2 The waterless cooker consists of a fairly deep aluminium pan, which is divided into compartments. 1971 British Printer Aug. 80/2 The need to maintain a critical ink-water balance..may be overcome by the development of waterless offset-litho. |
Hence ˈwaterlessness.
| 1888 Sat. Rev. 10 Nov. 563/1 His preconceived opinion of the waterlessness of this country. |