waterworks
/ˈwɔtɚˌwɚks/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.77 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The water supply system of a district, town, city, or other place, including reservoirs, pipes, and pumps.
noun
Any single facility, such as a filtration plant or pumping station, within such a system.
noun
Often in the form turn on the waterworks: crying or tears, especially in a way that is considered manipulative or over-emotional.
Informal
noun
A hydraulic apparatus by which a supply of water is furnished for ornamental purposes; also, an ornamental fountain or waterfall.
noun
Engineering works relating to the conveyance and flow of fluids (principally water), such as the collection and distribution of water, drainage, irrigation, etc.
Archaic
Example Sentences
- "She is employed by a waterworks at the outskirts of the city."
- "She turned on the waterworks when we told her the old man was dead, but she was asking questions about the will soon enough."
- "Resolving to possess myself in some quiet if it might be, in a time of so great jealosy, I built by my Brother's permission a study, made a fishpond, an island, and some other solitudes and retirements, at Wotton, which gave the first occasion of improving them to those water-works and gardens which afterwards succeeded them."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɔtɚˌwɚks/
- British English: /ˈwɔːtəˌwəːks/