Wiktionary

waterfall

See also: Waterfall

EnglishEdit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
 
Goðafoss, a waterfall in Iceland

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English waterfal, waterfalle, from Old English wæterġefeall (“waterfall”), equivalent to water +‎ fall. Cognate with West Frisian wetterfal (“waterfall”), Dutch waterval (“waterfall”), German Wasserfall (“waterfall”), Swedish vattenfall (“waterfall”).

PronunciationEdit

 
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NounEdit

waterfall (plural waterfalls)

  1. A flow of water over the edge of a cliff.
    Synonyms: cataract, cascade, falls
  2. (figuratively) A waterfall-like outpouring of liquid, smoke, etc.
    A waterfall of mist came from the open freezer.
  3. (technical, computing, slang) Waterfall model
    A very long duration project […] had taken a whole group of people through a painful waterfall development process.
  4. (slang, US) The action of drinking from a vessel without touching it with the lips, considered more sanitary for a shared vessel.
    Hey man, can I take a waterfall from your bottle?
  5. (colloquial, dated) A necktie.
  6. (colloquial, dated) A chignon.
  7. (colloquial, dated) A beard.
    • 1870–1871, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC:
      I found home a dreary place after my long absence; for half the children I had known were now wearing whiskers or waterfalls […]

SynonymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

Derived terms

TranslationsEdit

flow of water over the edge of a cliff — See also translations at cataract,‎ falls
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

VerbEdit

waterfall (third-person singular simple present waterfalls, present participle waterfalling, simple past and past participle waterfalled)

  1. (intransitive) To fall like a waterfall.
    • 1994, Nora Roberts, Private Scandals, page 54:
      Rain ran off the bill of his fielder's cap and waterfalled in front of his face.
    • 1999, Jane Yolen; Bruce Coville, Armageddon Summer, page 79:
      Zondra, whose dirty-blond hair waterfalled above her head from a colorful tie, gave a snorting, horsey kind of laugh.
    • 2008, John Gardner, No Human Enemy, page 156:
      they turned into the drive of The Manor with its red-brick front and the wonderful cloak of Virginia creeper waterfalling down between the windows.
  2. (transitive) To drink (something) from a container by pouring it from a height so as not to touch one's lips to the rim.
  3. (roller derby) Synonym of recycle

Derived termsEdit

See alsoEdit

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