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wetting

5 7.9
A polite word for peeing often used for children
  • noun
  • /ˈwɛtɪŋ/
  • Baby Talk
translation icon : mojadura
  • Although the pants-wetting was dangerously close to happening.
  • bed-wetting
  • wetting issues
  • wetting problem

Examples

  • The teacher spoke gently about wetting to help the students feel comfortable discussing their problems.

  • Which almost made up for the bed-wetting.

  • Bed-wetting is nothing to be ashamed of, Peanut.

  • If you'd said that before, you'd have saved us both a wetting.

  • The year had been one of nightmares and bed-wetting, but she had kept the terrible "secret" locked inside.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Daytime talk shows, of course, routinely include material so seemingly private as to make bed-wetting seem quaint.

    Blog text (5)
  • It's normal for young children to experience wetting at night, and parents should reassure them.

  • After a long day at school, he felt embarrassed about his wetting incident during nap time.

Synonyms

pee
vswetting
  • Baby Talk
64 5.6

An act of letting out the body's yellow liquid

is polite and indirect rather than informal or childish
peeing
vswetting
1 4.6

To let urine leave your body

is a polite indirect expression mainly used with children
passing water
vswetting
  • UK
8.2

To let out urine from the body

is used politely especially when speaking to or about children
making water
vswetting
  • Archaic
9.9

An act of peeing to empty your bladder

is polite and mainly used when talking to or about children

Compounds

4 3.2

Peeing while you sleep that often happens in children who usually grow out of it

wetting agent
  • Specialized
5.5

A chemical that helps a liquid spread or soak in more easily

How Formal

urination
13 3.9
wetting
  • Baby Talk
5 7.9
peeing
1 4.6

Surface Forms

wetting singular
wettigns plural

Morphology

wetting = wet (semi-transparent) = wet + ing

The verb 'wet' is clear, but the noun form 'wetting' as a euphemism for urination is not a standard derivation.

Etymology

Wetting used for urination comes from the simple verb wet, which means 'to make something wet'. A helpful way to remember it is to think of a child who has 'wet' their clothes, so wetting became a polite, gentle word for that act.