SEWER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sewer mean? 

• SEWER (noun)
  The noun SEWER has 3 senses:

1. a waste pipe that carries away sewage or surface water

2. someone who sews

3. misfortune resulting in lost effort or money

  Familiarity information: SEWER used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SEWER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A waste pipe that carries away sewage or surface water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cloaca; sewer; sewerage

Hypernyms ("sewer" is a kind of...):

drain; drainpipe; waste pipe (a pipe through which liquid is carried away)

Holonyms ("sewer" is a part of...):

sewage system; sewage works; sewer system (facility consisting of a system of sewers for carrying off liquid and solid sewage)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who sews

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

a sewer of fine gowns

Hypernyms ("sewer" is a kind of...):

needleworker (someone who does work (as sewing or embroidery) with a needle)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sewer"):

baster; tacker (a sewer who fastens a garment with long loose stitches)

sewing-machine operator (someone who sews by operating a sewing machine)

tucker (a sewer who tucks)

Derivation:

sew (fasten by sewing; do needlework)

sew (create (clothes) with cloth)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Misfortune resulting in lost effort or money

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

gutter; sewer; toilet

Context example:

pensions are in the toilet

Hypernyms ("sewer" is a kind of...):

bad luck; ill luck; misfortune; tough luck (an unfortunate state resulting from unfavorable outcomes)

 Context examples 

“What a devil has become of the maitre-des-tables and his sewers? They have not put forth the trestles yet.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Heavy objects like cars sink into the muck, while buried water and sewer pipes rise to the surface.

(NASA Map Reveals a New Landslide Risk Factor, NASA)

By scanning the brains of healthy volunteers, researchers at the National Institutes of Health saw the first, long-sought evidence that our brains may drain some waste out through lymphatic vessels, the body’s sewer system.

(NIH researchers uncover drain pipes in our brains, National Institutes of Health)

Let the sewers serve and the minstrels play, while we drain a cup to the brave days that are before us in the south!

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A crowd of white-faced sewers and pages swarmed at their heels, those behind pushing forwards, while the foremost shrank back from the fierce faces and reeking weapons of the adventurers.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)