Etymology From water + -proof. Compare West Frisian wetterproef (“waterproof”), Dutch waterproef (“waterproof”).
1
Broadly Resistant to the effects of water.
2
Made of or covered with material that doesn't allow water in; impervious to water and immune to its effects.
The captain did a safety drill. This covered where the emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) was located, how to make a mayday call, and where the fire extinguishers were. A crew member demonstrated how to put on an immersion suit. These survival suits are waterproof full-body garments with a hood and integral three-finger gloves and boots. They are bulky and hard to get on but far more likely to save your life in cold water than a lifejacket.2025 October 21, Rose George, “‘I knew in my head we were dying’: the last voyage of the Scandies Rose”, in The Guardian:
The only waterproof plan and the one increasingly adopted by leading trades is the consolidation of the interests of all parties in a scheme of amalgamation.1931, The British Clay Worker:
Especially within an international framework, guarding this process is of the utmost importance. The eyes of the world are focussed on the action at hand and demand a waterproof plan and execution.2001, W. A. M. van Dijk, J. L. Hovens, Netherlands. Koninklijke Marechaussee, Arresting war criminals:
1 more example
Unless you have a 100 percent waterproof plan to defraud insurance companies, I would suggest you don't do it.2013, Barry Davies, Soldier of Fortune Guide to How to Disappear and Never Be Found, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., →ISBN:
4
Uncommon, Of organisms Not dependent on an aquatic environment to live; thus, able to live on dry land, or at least in a semiaquatic environment.
At the time the Burgess Shale was laid down, life on land was pretty unexciting – there were a few primitive clubmosses and liverworts growing in wet areas near water, but little else. There would also have been a strand-line of washed-up plants and animals, edible detritus that was tantalisingly out of reach of the water-bound animals of the day. Inevitably, before long some arthropods began to drag themselves ashore to take advantage of these untapped resources. Their external skeletons, which perhaps originally evolved as a defence against predators, helped to support their bodies on land, giving them an edge in colonisation there over soft-bodied sea animals such as jellyfish and worms. To start with, these animals would presumably have been poorly waterproofed and had to return to water very regularly to prevent themselves drying out; or they would have had to stay in the dampest places, amongst rotting weed or damp moss. […] As the plants slowly adapted to life on land and spread away from the seas, they also grew taller as the competition for light intensified. To follow them, the animals had to improve their waterproofing. Some animal groups never really got the hang of this; for example, the few crustaceans that successfully invaded land, such as woodlice, are restricted to damp places to this day. Others, such as arachnids, evolved more-or-less waterproof cuticles and eggs, so that they were able to leave water far behind and occupy even the most inhospitable, arid environments on Earth.2015, Dave Goulson, A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm, Picador, →ISBN, pages 24-25:
Etymology From water + -proof. Compare West Frisian wetterproef (“waterproof”), Dutch waterproef (“waterproof”).
1
To make waterproof or water-resistant.
The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
waterproof
noun
Etymology From water + -proof. Compare West Frisian wetterproef (“waterproof”), Dutch waterproef (“waterproof”).
1
A substance or preparation for rendering cloth, leather, etc., impervious to water.
2
Cloth made waterproof, or any article made of such cloth, or of other waterproof material, as rubber; especially, an outer garment made of such material.
Carrados dropped the near window as a man in glistening waterproof stepped from the shelter of a lich-gate and approached.1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados: