SEWER
What does "SEWER" mean?
An underground pipe or channel that carries away waste water and sewage.
Meanings
- A conduit, usually underground, for carrying off drainage and waste matter. Heavy rain overwhelmed the city's aging sewers.
- A person who sews, pronounced differently as /'soʊ.ər/. The sewer hemmed the curtains by hand.
Did you know?
- London's modern sewers exist because of a smell: after the 'Great Stink' of 1858 made Parliament unbearable, engineer Joseph Bazalgette built a vast network that still runs today.
Word origin
From Anglo-French 'sewere', an aphetic form of Old French 'esseweur' (a drain), ultimately from Latin 'ex-' (out) plus 'aqua' (water) - literally a channel to draw water away.
Remember it
Same five letters, two worlds: a SEWER (suh-er) drains the city, a SEWER (so-er) stitches your shirt. Sound, not spelling, tells them apart.
A little poem
Beneath the bright street,
a patient river of all
we wish to forget.
haiku
Wordplay
- The tailor and the city pipe are both spelled 'sewer' - one keeps the seams together, the other keeps the city's secrets running.
What it teaches
Civilization is measured less by its monuments than by where it sends what it would rather not see.
Quick facts
What does SEWER mean?
An underground pipe or channel that carries away waste water and sewage.
Is SEWER a valid word?
Yes — SEWER is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is SEWER?
SEWER has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does SEWER come from?
From Anglo-French 'sewere', an aphetic form of Old French 'esseweur' (a drain), ultimately from Latin 'ex-' (out) plus 'aqua' (water) - literally a channel to draw water away.
What can SEWER teach us?
Civilization is measured less by its monuments than by where it sends what it would rather not see.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.