water to the mill
- idiom
- Informal
:
agua para el molino
- The sudden surge in demand was water to the mill for their small business.
Examples
-
The positive reviews were water to the mill for the new restaurant.
-
Any new information is water to the mill of investigative journalists.
-
This new contract is great water to the mill for our business.
-
The recent sales increase is water to the mill for the marketing team.
-
The positive reviews were water to the mill for the new restaurant, boosting its popularity.
-
Any new information is water to the mill for investigative journalists, helping them uncover stories.
-
The sudden surge in demand was water to the mill for their small business, allowing it to grow.
Synonyms
1
8.4
A fact or event that people use to make stories
How Beneficial
28
4.9
269
1.4
38
4.4
- Informal
676
2.3
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
water + to + the + mill
The phrase evokes the literal idea of supplying water to a mill (which gives a plausible route to the idiomatic sense of 'something that benefits or helps someone'), so there is a visible compositional link. However, the idiomatic reading depends on cultural/encyclopedic knowledge (mills powered by water) and a metaphorical extension that many B1 learners would not reliably infer just from the words, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Water to the mill comes from old mills where flowing water turned the wheel of the mill and made it work. That's why it now means 'something that helps or benefits' someone or their plans.