Standard Lemma guide

dishwater

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Water that dishes and cooking utensils have been washed in.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • The dishwater drained away slowly.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Anything dull and lacking interest or flavour.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, uncountable, usually

Examples

  • This season's offerings are nothing but dishwater.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

water in which dishes and cooking utensils are washed

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: water, H2O

History

Etymology

From dish + water.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: помия (pomija) — washing water
  • Catalan: aigua de fregar — washing water
  • Chinese Mandarin: 洗碗水 (xǐwǎnshuǐ) — washing water
  • Cimbrian: gaspüulach — washing water
  • Dutch: afwaswater — washing water
  • Finnish: astianpesuvesi — washing water
  • Finnish: tiskivesi — washing water
  • French: rinçure — washing water
  • French: eau de vaisselle — washing water
  • German: Spülwasser — washing water
  • German: Spülicht — washing water
  • German: Abwaschwasser — washing water
  • Greek: απόνερα (apónera) — washing water
  • Irish: uisce soitheach — washing water
  • Italian: broda — washing water
  • Italian: brodaglia — washing water
  • Italian: stroscia — washing water
  • Norwegian Bokmål: oppvaskvann — washing water
  • Russian: помо́и (pomói) — washing water
  • Spanish: agua de fregar — washing water
  • Swedish: diskvatten — washing water
  • Turkish: bulaşık suyu — washing water
  • Welsh: golchan — washing water
  • Welsh: dŵr golchi llestri — washing water