moisture
nounUK /ˈmɔɪs.t͡ʃə/ · US /ˈmɔɪs.t͡ʃɚ/
Etymology From Middle English moisture, from Old French moistour (“moisture, dampness, wetness”). Compare French moiteur.
1
Usually That which moistens or makes damp or wet; exuding fluid; liquid in small quantity.
- drops / beads of moisture
- I cannot weep; for all my body’s moisture Scarce serves to quench my furnace-burning heart:c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
4 more examples
- And some [seed] fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 8:6:
- […] Nicholas Nickleby’s eyes were dimmed with a moisture that might have been taken for tears.1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, chapter 7, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC:
- […] as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal, till I could see in the moonlight the moisture shining on the scarlet lips and on the red tongue as it lapped the white sharp teeth.1897, Bram Stoker, “Jonathan Harker’s Journal—continued”, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC, chapter III, page 39:
- The sage—low-growing and shrubby—could hold its place on the mountain slopes and on the plains, and within its small gray leaves it could hold moisture enough to defy the thieving winds.1962, Rachel Carson, chapter 6, in Silent Spring, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 65:
2
Usually The state of being moist.
- […] all Exclusion of Open Aire, (which is euer Predatory) maintaineth the Body in his first Freshnesse, and Moisture:1631, Francis [Bacon], “IV. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, page 84:
- Such was the discord, which did first disperse Forme, order, beauty through the universe; While drynesse moisture, coldnesse heat resists, All that we have, and that we are subsists:1643, John Denham, Coopers Hill, page 7:
1 more example
- [The organs of touch are excited] by the unceasing variations of the heat, moisture, and pressure of the atmosphere;1794, Erasmus Darwin, Zoonomia, London: J. Johnson, Volume 1, Section 7, I.1, p. 39:
3
Medicine, Sciences Usually Skin moisture noted as dry, moist, clammy, or diaphoretic as part of the skin signs assessment.
- Synonyms
- weakiness
- Derived terms
- antimoisture, moistured, moisture equivalent, moistureless, moistureproof, moisture-repellent, moisture scan, moisturization, overmoisture, soil moisture deficit
- Related terms
- moist, moisten, moistness, moisturise, moisturize, moisturiser, moisturizer