Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

take on water

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.36 in modern English

Syllables: take on wa-ter
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To slowly fill with water, as due to a leak or being washed by high waves; to begin to sink.

verb

To be in an increasingly difficult or risky situation; to falter or begin to fail.

Example Sentences

"The skipper, Matt Craughwell, said their boat had begun to take on water after being tossed, stern upwards, by huge waves."
"While the heartland is chugging right along, the economies of Southern California and New England are still taking on water."
"Democrats on Capitol Hill . . . are struggling not to go down with the Obama campaign (which is taking on water at an alarming rate)."
"The team refinanced $250 million of debt and is no longer taking on water under the leadership of GM Sandy Alderson."

Inflected Forms

takes on water (present, singular) taking on water (participle, present) took on water (past) taken on water (participle, past) take in water (alternative)

Questions

What does take on water mean?: To slowly fill with water, as due to a leak or being washed by high waves; to begin to sink.

How to pronounce take on water

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “take on water”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “take on water”.
Repeat and practice — Say “take on water” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.