ˈdish-water
The greasy water in which dishes have been washed. Also attrib.
| 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop v. xiii, Dysshe water and alle other fylthe. 1587 Harrison England ii. xx. (1878) i. 331 The verie dishwater is not without some use amongest our finest plants. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 318 Wash them with a little beef broath or dish water. 1719 D'Urfey Pills III. 7 Arabian Tea, Is Dish-water stuff to a dish of new Whey. 1884 Harper's Mag. June 22/1 Sally shook the dish-water off her fingers. |
| transf. and fig. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. (1883) 224 Flash phraseology..is..the dish-water from the washings of English dandyism. 1887 Sanitary Era (N.Y.) 15 Nov., Rainwater, after all, is nature's dishwater, from washing the great bowl of the atmosphere. |
¶ = dish-washer 3 (for which it is
app. only an error).
Obs.| 1674 J. Josselyn Voy. New Eng. 100 The Troculus, Wagtail, or Dish-water. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Dish-Water [1715 Kersey, Dish-Washer], a Bird otherwise call'd Wag-tail. |