Skip to main content
water-skiing

water-skiing

2 2.2
An activity of standing on two long boards on water while a boat pulls you
  • noun
  • /ˈwɔːtərˌskiːɪŋ/
translation icon : esquí acuático
  • - Water-skiing?
  • water-skiing and windsurfing
  • sailing and water-skiing
  • water-skiing and snorkeling

Examples

Synonyms

water skiing
vswater-skiing
5 2.8

A sport where a motorboat pulls a person on skis across water

is the hyphenated spelling rather than the spaced form
waterskiing
vswater-skiing
1 3.3

Moving across water on skis while a motorboat pulls you

is the hyphenated spelling often used in other style guides

How Intense

slalom
14 7.0
wakeboarding
1 4.1
water-skiing
2 2.2
tubing
  • Informal
3 3.6

Surface Forms

water-skiing singular
water-skiings plural

Morphology

water-skiing = water-ski (transparent) = water + ski + ing

Built from the verb 'water-ski' plus the gerundive suffix '-ing', producing the activity noun in an expected way.

Etymology

The word water-skiing joins water and ski. The ski part comes from an old Norse word that meant 'a split piece of wood', because early skis were wooden and used to glide on snow. That's why water-skiing means using skis to glide on water while a boat pulls you.