[f. WATER v. + -ER1.]
1. One who waters plants, crops, etc. lit. and fig.
In 17th-c. religious literature somewhat common in allusions to 1 Cor. iii. 7, 8.
1549. Coverdale, etc., Erasm. Par. 1 Cor. iii. 6–7. Yf the husband manne be of thys dysapoynted, nothyng in maner preuayleth, the gardiner, nor yet the waterer.
1602. Carew, Cornwall, I. 80. This ill weed,… maugre the warmers and waterers, hath by her Maiesties gracious breath beene euer parched vp.
1607. [R. Parker], Schol. Disc. agst. Antichr., II. v. 2. The Magistrate must be a remoouer, or reviver of the Ceremonies controversed: a weeder or a waterer of them.
1621. R. Johnson, Way to Glory, 23. The very titles that the holy Ghost doth giue them [sc. gospellers] in Scripture,… as … Waterers, Builders, Stewards, [etc.].
1703. J. Freame, Test., in C. Marshal, Sion’s Trav. (1704), b v b. He was both a Planter, as well as a Waterer in God’s Vineyard.
1842. Loudon, Suburban Hort., 387. Watering plants in pots requires much more consideration on the part of the waterer than watering in free soil.
† b. One who practises irrigation. Obs. rare.
1789. T. Wright, Meth. Watering Meadows (1790), 22. This method … is … taught by a systematical waterer in Staffordshire.
† 2. = AQUARIUS. Obs. rare–1.
1546. Gassar’s Prognost., b v. In ye signe Aquari or waterer.
3. One who is sent ashore to obtain a supply of fresh water for a ship’s company.
1773. Hawkesworth, Voy., III. 498. Having … sent the boat away, [he] set out to join the waterers by land.
1777. G. Forster, Voy. round World, I. 127. Sail-makers, coopers, waterers, and wood-cutters.
1781. Gentl. Mag., LI. 278. The Indians still continuing troublesome, and attacking the waterers with stones at the well.
4. One who supplies animals with drinking water.
1844. Dickens, Mart. Chuz., xxxi. He was a mere waterer of horses.
1888. Doughty, Trav. Arabia Deserta, I. 27. The shift of waterers was sent out … to seek a cattle pool some miles lower in the valley.
† 5. A visitor at a spa or watering-place. Obs.
1776. S. J. Pratt, Pupil of Pleas. (1777), I. 59. My wife says, he understands to a nicety, what, some of the waterers [at ‘Buxton bath’] call, the etiquette of dress.
6. A watering vessel.
1891. in Century Dict.
