Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A large open-headed cask, usually set up on end in an out-house or close to a dwelling, serving as a reservoir for rain- or pipe-water.
- noun A water-beetle, as Dytiscus marginatns and related species.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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From the moment he enters and wakes up by doing a handstand in a water-butt and mixes a Prairie Oyster by putting the glass in his trousers and shaking his hips, Mark Rylance gives a historic performance as "Rooster" Byron, who is Lord of Misrule, Puck, Robin Hood and Socrates all rolled up in a single, unforgettable character.
Smart and Snappy, 'Jumpy' Crackles Paul Levy 2011
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It was once the main residence at Leatherarse Gully, another bungalow with a low tin roof and veranda, with a water-butt at one corner.
Wildwood Roger Deakin 2009
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It was once the main residence at Leatherarse Gully, another bungalow with a low tin roof and veranda, with a water-butt at one corner.
Wildwood Roger Deakin 2009
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A little while afterwards he had taken a new house, and was going headlong to ruin for want of a water-butt.
Reprinted Pieces 2007
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I had my misgivings about the water-butt, and did not reply to that epistle.
Reprinted Pieces 2007
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Sickened by walking backward with pails of water he carried till he could see and think of nothing in the world save the water-butt, the puddle in front of it, and the cattlemen mercilessly dipping out pails there, through centuries that would never end.
Our Mr. Wrenn 2004
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Why, a woman as round and big as our largest water-butt - a rough, hard-favoured old girl.
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She stood by the back door reflecting on these gloomy possibilities, her eyes fixed on the water-butt.
The Railway Children Edith 2003
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She beckoned mysteriously to the others and drew them into the back yard, and there, in a concealed spot, between the pump and the water-butt, she said: — “You remember Perks promising me the very first strawberries out of his own garden?”
The Railway Children Edith 2003
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She stood by the back door reflecting on these gloomy possibilities, her eyes fixed on the water-butt.
The Railway Children Edith 2003
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