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Webster 1913 Edition

Sewer

Sew′er

,
Noun.
1.
One who sews, or stitches.
2.
(Zool.)
A small tortricid moth whose larva sews together the edges of a leaf by means of silk;
as, the apple-leaf
sewer
(
Phoxopteris nubeculana
)

Sew′er

,
Noun.
[OF.
sewiere
,
seuwiere
, ultimately fr. L.
ex
out + a derivative of
aqua
water; cf. OF.
essevour
a drain,
essever
,
esseuwer
,
essiaver
, to cause to flow, to drain, to flow, LL.
exaquatorium
a channel through which water runs off. Cf.
Ewer
,
Aquarium
.]
A drain or passage to carry off water and filth under ground; a subterraneous channel, particularly in cities.

Sew′er

,
Noun.
[Cf. OE.
assewer
, and
asseour
, OF.
asseour
, F.
asseoir
to seat, to set, L.
assidere
to sit by;
ad + sedere
to sit (cf.
Sit
); or cf. OE.
sew
pottage, sauce, boiled meat, AS.
seáw
juice, Skr.
su
to press out.]
Formerly, an upper servant, or household officer, who set on and removed the dishes at a feast, and who also brought water for the hands of the guests.
Then the
sewer

Poured water from a great and golden ewer,
That from their hands to a silver caldron ran.
Chapman.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sewer

SEW'ER

,
Noun.
[L. sicco.] A drain or passage to cnvey off waterunder ground; a subterraneous canal, particularly in cities; corruptly pronounced Shore or soer.

SEW'ER

,
Noun.
An officer who serves up the feast and arranges the dishes. Obs.

SEW'ER

,
Noun.
One who sews, or uses the needle.

Definition 2024

sewer

sewer

English

Pronunciation

Noun

sewer ‎(plural sewers)

  1. A pipe or system of pipes used to remove human waste and to provide drainage.
    • 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:
      One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.
Translations

Verb

sewer ‎(third-person singular simple present sewers, present participle sewering, simple past and past participle sewered)

  1. (transitive) To provide (a place) with a system of sewers.

Etymology 2

From Anglo-Norman asseour, from Old French asseoir ‎(“find a seat for”), from Latin assidēre, present active participle of assideō ‎(“attend to”), from ad ‎(“to, towards, at”) + sedeō ‎(“sit”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsjuːə/
  • Hyphenation: sew‧er

Noun

sewer ‎(plural sewers)

  1. (now historical) A servant attending at a meal who is responsible for seating arrangements, serving dishes, etc.
    • 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:
      While the Saxon was plunged in these painful reflections, the door of their prison opened, and gave entrance to a sewer, holding his white rod of office.
    • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 287:
      His nephew Charles, meanwhile, had grown up in the royal household, working as a sewer, or waiter.

Etymology 3

A sewer (Etymology 3) in Dhaka

sew +‎ -er

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sō'ə, IPA(key): /ˈsəʊə/
  • (US) enPR: sō'ə, IPA(key): /ˈsoʊɚ/
  • Homophone: sower
  • Rhymes: -əʊə(r)
  • Hyphenation: sew‧er

Noun

sewer ‎(plural sewers)

  1. One who sews.
  2. A small tortricid moth, the larva of which sews together the edges of a leaf using silk.
    the apple-leaf sewer, Phoxopteris nubeculana‎
Synonyms
Translations

Anagrams

Etymology

Inside an underground sewer (etymology 1)

From Anglo-Norman sewere ‎(“water-course”), from Old French sewiere ‎(“overflow channel for a fishpond”), from Vulgar Latin *exaquāria ‎(“drain for carrying water off”), from Latin ex ‎(“out of, from”) + aquāria ‎(“of or pertaining to waters”).

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