▪ I. ˈwetting, vbl. n.
[f. wet v.]
1. The action of making wet, or the fact of becoming wet; also (with a and pl.), an instance of this: a. Of persons, esp. by rain or falling into water.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. 268 Þo Marie hadde i-blessed þat watur with hire honde, With-oute wetingue þare-ouer heo ȝeode. c 1330 [see wetness β]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1579 Pight vp with pilers..[for] Weghis into walke for wetyng of rayn. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 211 That's more to me then my wetting. 1645 Bp. Hall Remedy Discont. 149 It must be our wisedome..some whiles to abide a wetting; that, if need be, wee may endure a drenching also. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 5 May 1645, So that one can hardly step without wetting to the skin. 1836 Southey Lett. (1856) IV. 490 At the cost of a thorough wetting under a succession of heavy showers. 1849 C. Brontë Shirley xxvi, Many a wetting we got amongst the mountains. 1876 Smiles Sc. Natur. xii. (ed. 4) 250 The sea was like a sheet of glass; so that he had little fear of getting a wetting during his few hours' stay. |
b. In general use. Also in fig. context.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter i. 3 He sall be as a tre that..has ay wetynge of the watirs of grace. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 27 Þat men þoru hem moun take weetynge of hevenly deew to her drie hertis. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 39 As a cat wolde ete fisshes withoute wetinge of his cles. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 523/2 Wetynge, madefaccio, madidacio. 1577 Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. 119 b, Your stable must be buylt in a dry place, for wetting the Horses hoofe. 1623 in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1908) II. 285 The wettinge and late cominge downe of thier goods. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. II. 59 The second thing that is to be done, after having remov'd Fig-Trees out of the Conservatory,..is (to use the Phrase of Gard'ners) to give them a good Wetting in every Case; which is, one good substantial Watering. 1725 Bradley's Family Dict. s.v. Narcissus of Japan, They must have a sound wetting, steeping the Pots in Water until you find it swims upon the Surface. 1789 T. Wright Meth. Watering Meadows (1790) 23 It can be of no service to the lowest parts of the meadow, unless as a wetting in Spring or Summer. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art i. 255 The wetting of the slate was merely superficial. 1863 P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 197 The only sensible effect is the wetting of the wires. 1886 Athenæum 20 Feb. 268/1 It is functionally protective against undue wetting by rain. |
2. The action of moistening the throat with liquid; a small quantity of water or liquor used for this purpose.
| 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 1033 Drink may him helpe, A litil wetinge of watur his wo wol amende. 1835 J. M. Wilson Tales of Border I. 118 It is seldom a thimblefu' that fa's to my share,..mony a time, no a weetin'. 1884 Punch 11 Oct. 180/1 'Twas like the free run of a Bar, And Politics wants lots o' wetting. 1906 Times 6 Mar. 9/6 Drinks and ‘wetting’, ruinous to health and morals, are part of the business plant. |
3. The action of making wet or moist as part of a special process: a. Of cloth. (Also in fig. contexts.)
| 1463–4 Rolls of Parlt. V. 501/2 That every Cloth of Kersey..be parfitly wette, and after that wetyng redy to the sale,..connteigne in lengh xviii yerdes. 1540, 1592 [see shrink v. 2 b]. 1593 Greene Mamillia ii. E 4, The cloath is not knowne till it come to the weeting. 1616 T. Draxe Bibl. Scholast. 189 He will not abide the touchstone. He shrinketh in the wetting. 1627 J. Taylor (Water P.) Navy Land Ships B 5, Like No[r]therne Cloth shrunke in the wetting. 1631 R. Bolton Comf. Affl. Consc. iv. (1635) 16 A professour of the truest and heavenliest dye that holds out in the wetting and shrinkes not in the Day of adversitie. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2415/2 The stretch is taken out of it by repeated wettings and stretchings. |
b. The steeping of barley in the process of malting; the quantity steeped at one time.
| 1467 Bury Wills (Camden) 46 That the occupier..shall haue his wetyng of his barley in the fate of the seid Denyse during maltyng tyme,..the seid Denyse on wetyng and the seid occupier an other wetyng. 1702 Lond. Gaz. No. 3790/4 Every Cistern..or other Vessel,..made use of for the Wetting or Steeping of Corn. 1720 Ibid. No. 5864/2 The intire wetting..shall be charged with the Duty of 6d. per Bushel. |
c. fig. (Cf. wet v. 11.)
| 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 53 He must have his double Jug, before he weighs,..because wetting of his Sails, will make him run the faster. |
d. Glass-making. (See quot. and wet v. 13.)
| 1888 Daily News 14 Feb. 6/5 The bottle is..cut off from the blow pipe by means of a steel chisel and cold water. This is called ‘wetting’ or ‘wetting off’. |
4. concr. A liquid mixture employed to wet something else. (See also E.D.D., Wetting n. 3.)
| 1728 E. S[mith] Compleat Housew. (ed. 2) 134 Make a Hole in the midst of the Flour, and pour all the wetting in. |
5. Urination, usu. resulting from incontinence or stress.
| 1943 [see soiling vbl. n.1 1 b]. 1960 I. Bennett Delinquent & Neurotic Children viii. 252 Soiling, wetting, and difficult behaviour. |
6. attrib., as wetting-board, wetting-machine, wetting-place, wetting-trough.
| 1790 Act 31 Geo. III, c. 7, §18 The Cistern, Uting-fat, or other Wetting-place or Utensil. 1800 Act 41 Geo. III c. 6 §3 Damaged Barley in the Cistern,..or other wetting Place. 1888 Jacobi Printers' Vocab., Wetting boards, the boards placed between the different reams in the press in the wetting department. Ibid., Wetting machines. Ibid., Wetting trough. |
▪ II. ˈwetting, ppl. a.
[f. wet v.]
a. That makes wet or moist.
| 1661 Boyle Physiol. Ess. (1669) 187 The distinction betwixt a fluid Body and a wetting Liquor. a 1668 R. Lassels Voy. Italy (1698) I. 134 Here you have the Grotto of Cupid with the wetting-stools, upon which sitting down, a great spout of water comes full in your face. Ibid. 159 The great variety of water-works, grots, and wetting sports. 1718 Rowe tr. Lucan i. 403 The wetting winds had thaw'd the Alpine snows. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 397 The plant..is regularly drenched with heavy wetting dews. 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. vi. (1858) 120 There came on a thick, wetting drizzle. 1902 M. Barnes-Grundy Thames Camp 296 The chilly evenings and the heavy wetting mists in the morning. 1948 Nature 28 Feb. 313/2 A non-polar ‘wetting’ liquid such as carbon tetrachloride is floated on mercury in the reservoir beneath the U-tube. 1980 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 18 Oct. 1047/2 A wetting solution coats a hard lens with a chemical that permits water to spread and form a surface that is less traumatic to eye tissues. |
b. wetting agent, a chemical that can be added to a liquid to reduce its surface tension and make it more effective at wetting.
| 1927 Chem. Abstr. XXI. 414 The Na salts of the products may be used as wetting agents. 1950 Engineering 5 May 517/1 The success of Teepol as a wetting agent is due to its effectiveness in reducing the surface tension of water. 1977 J. Hedgecoe Photographer's Handbk. 39 Rinsing the film in ‘wetting agent’ (weak detergent) at the end of washing helps to prevent the accumulation of drops of water. |