The Taste of Twater

by JLS
for the GC

I WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN GRICE O J. M. Geary. "Ice is not frozen water", he would complain.

Putnam considers that it's best to think Griceanly about this: Water is H20. XYZ Putnam called 'twater'.

----

"To see if Putnam is right we should first go through the dictionary and see if 'water' is sometimes twater, or viceversa".

The implicatures of 'water' are NOT detachable.

From the OED.

(Do not multiply senses beyond necessity):

"water"(from the OED -- ed. by JLS). Cognate with Frisian "water", Dutch
"water", German "wasser", Russ "voda" (cfr "vodka"), Latin Roman, "unda" = wave. Also cognate with English "otter".

USAGE I: The liquid of which seas, lakes, and rivers are composed, and
which falls as rain and issues from springs. When pure, it is transparent,
colourless (except as seen in large quantity, when it has a blue tint),
tasteless, and inodorous.Popular language recognizes kinds of `water' that
have not all these negative properties; but (even apart from any scientific
knowledge) it has usually been more or less clearly understood that these
are really mixtures of water with other substances.

Sub-usage 1.1. Sub-sub-usage 1.1.1. GENERAL. FIRST REGISTERED USAGE
897 Aelfred Gregory's Past. C. 309
Onsend Ladzarus, thaette he gewaete his ytemestan
finger on waettre.

Last registered usage:
1850 Tennyson In Mem. lviii,
As drop by drop the water falls In vaults and catacombs.

SUB-SUBUSAGE 2. 2: With various qualifying words, denoting kinds of
water distinguished by their properties or origin: see ice-water,
rain-water, river-water, salt water, sea-water, snow-water, spring-water,
sweet water; cold water, hot water, warm water; also fresh, hard, soft.

SUB-SUBUSAGE 3. Considered as antagonistic to fire.

FIRST REGISTERED USAGE: 1390 Gower Conf. I. 266
For as the water of a welle
Of fyr abateth the malice, Riht so
Last registered usage:
1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 235/2
In coping with fires, water is the great agent employed.

SUBUSAGE 3.2. figurative. First registered usage:
1682 Bunyan Greatn. Soul (1691) 3
This kind of Language tends to cast Water
upon weak and beginning Desires.

SUB-SUBUSAGE 4: As supplied for domestic needs, esp. as conveyed by a
channel or conduit from the source, and distributed through pipes to the
houses of a district. Phrases, to cut off, turn on the water.

FIRST REGISTERED USAGE:
1535 Coverdale 2 Kings xx. 20
The pole and water condyte, wherby he conueyed water in to the cite.
Last registered usage
1836 Dickens, Shops & Tenants,
At last the company's man came to cut off the water.

SUB-SUBUSAGE 5: As used for motive power. First registered usage:
1698 Floyer Asthma (1717) To Rdr. p. xxv,
Like a Mill which stands still for want of Water.

SUB-SUBUSAGE 6: In various similative and figurative phrases, many of
which are of biblical origin: see, e.g., Gen. xlix. 4.
to write on or in water [= L. in aqua scribere: to fail to leave abiding
record of (something). (To spend money) like water: profusely, recklessly.
to put water in (a person's) worts: to make things unpleasant for him.
water in one's shoes: something disagreeable. to hold out water, to bear
water: = `to hold water'. where the water sticks [after L. haeret aqua]:
where discussion comes to a standstill. water over the dam or under the
bridge (dyke, mill and varr.): past events which it is unprofitable to
revive or discuss; a way of saying `a long time has passed'.

First registered usage:
971 Blickl. Hom. 237
Manega tintrega hie the onbringath..swa thaette thin blod flewth ofer
eorthan swa swa waeter.
Last registered usage:
1981 Encounter Oct. 7
You don't want to let any of that business bother you... Water under the
bridge. Just accept the fact, file it away.

USAGE 2. SUB-USAGE 1. As a drink, as satisfying thirst, or as necessary
aliment for animals and plants. Also fig. (chiefly in biblical uses)
applied to what satisfies spiritual needs or desires; cf. water of
life.bread and water (also in Shaks. bran and water), the type of extreme
hard fare, as of a prisoner or a penitent.

FIRST REGISTERED USAGE:
950 Lindisf. Gosp. John iv. 13
Eghuelc sethe gedrincath of thaem uaetre thaet
ic sello him ne thyrsteth in aecnisse.

LAST REGISTERED USAGE:
1921 E. L. Masters Mitch Miller xiv. 113
After that they..put him in a dark room and kept him on bread and water for
a day.

SUBUSAGE 2.2.:Contrasted with wine, as inferior in strength or
pleasantness.
FIRST REGISTERED: 1300 Cursor M. 21295
The stile o matheu, water it was, And win the letter o lucas.
1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 152 Woman is the lesser man, and all thy
passions, match'd with mine, Are as moonlight unto sunlight, and as water
unto wine.

USAGE 2.3: water bewitched (colloq.): used derisively for excessively
diluted liquor; now chiefly, very weak tea. 1678 Ray Prov. (ed. 2) 84 Water
betwitch't, i.e. very thin beer.
1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Water-bewitched, weak tea, coffee, punch, &c.

USAGE 2.4 figurative: 1845 Carlyle Cromwell Introd. ii. I. 25
Another Book of Noble's..is of much more stupid character; nearly
meaningless indeed; mere water bewitched.
USAGE 3: 3.1. As used for dilution of liquors.
1382 Wyclif Isa. i. 22
Thi syluer is turned in to dros; thi wyn is mengd with water.
1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxviii, Mr. Benjamin Allen..produced..a black bottle
half full of brandy. `You don't take water, of course?' said Bob Sawyer.
3.1.1. Figurative 1860 Ld. Acton in Gasquet Acton & Circle (1906) 149, I
am afraid you will think I have poured a good deal of water into your wine
in `Tyrol' and `Syria'.
3.2. In phrasal combinations denoting liquors diluted with water, as
brandy-and-water, gin-and-water, rum-and-water, whisky-and-water,
wine-and-water: see the first words; also milk-and-water. Hence jocularly
in nonce-combinations.
1812 H. C. Robinson Jrnl. 13 May in E. J. Morley Blake, Coleridge,
Wordsworth, Lamb, Etc. (1922) 50
Barfield called Wilson `Wordsworth & Water'
1899 Daily News 13 Mar. 7/1 He once heard a University sermon described as
of the Bible and water order.
3.3. (Stock Exchange.) Fictitious capital created by the `watering' or
`diluting' of the stock of a trading company. See water v. 7 e.
1883 Nation (N.Y.) 8 Nov. 384/2 The Committee does not produce any evidence
to show that it is the dread of `water' which is now keeping the foreign
investor out of Wall Street.
1894 Daily News 12 July 5/5 The stock of the Company has been watered three
times over, and the Company has not only been able to pay the regular
dividends on the water and all, but [etc.].

USAGE 4. 4.1. As used for washing, steeping, boiling, etc.
1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxvii. 24
The geseah pilatus thaet hyt naht ne fremode..tha genam he waeter & thwoh
hys handa.
1828 Scott F.M. Perth, Chron. Canongate Ser. ii. Introd., These are the
stains;..neither water nor any thing else will ever remove them from that
spot.

4.2. Each of the quantities of water used successively in a gradual
process of washing.
1225 Ancr. R. 324 Wule a weob beon, et one cherre, mid one watere wel
ibleched..?
1875 F. J. Bird Dyer's Hand-bk. 33 Wash in two waters and dry.
4.3.in references to baptism.
1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. iii. 11
Ic eow fullige on waetere to daedbote.
1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lx. §1
Why are we taught that with water God doth purifie and clense his Church?

USAGE 5: Water of a mineral spring or a collection of mineral springs
used medicinally for bathing or for drinking, or both. Often plural (cf. L.
aquae) preceded by the or the name of a place. to go to the waters (?
obs.): to visit a `watering-place' for remedial treatment.
1542 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII. c. 8
Divers honest persones..whome God hathe endued with the knowledge of the
nature kinde and operacion of certeyne herbes rotes and waters.
1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 579 She was ordered simply a wine-glass of
Orezza water after breakfast every morning.

USAGE 6. 6.1. Water regarded as collected in seas, lakes, ponds, etc.,
or as flowing in rivers or streams.Often with definite article, as denoting
a particular portion of water referred to. Also, the aqueous part of the
earth's surface as a region inhabited by its own characteristic forms of
life, in contradistinction to the land and the air.
1100 Gerefa in Anglia IX. 259
Ge on wuda, ge on waetere, ge on felda, ge on falde.
1867 Ansted Phys. Geog. 125 Owing to the position of the land, we have the
water divided into two unequal parts, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic
canal.

6.2: The plural is often used instead of the sing. esp. with reference
to flowing water or to water moving in waves.For the pl. cf. F. eaux, L.
aquae.
1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xiv. 28
Dryhten, gyf þu hyt eart, hat me cuman to the ofer thas waeteru.
1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xiii, They..had been baptised in the waters of
their native river.

6.3: In figurative context. deep waters (after Ps. lxix. 2, 14), grave
distresses and anxieties; also, difficult or dangerous affairs; now usu. in
phr. in deep water(s).
1535 Coverdale Ps. lxviii [lxix]. 2,
I am come in to depe waters.
1950 D. Lessing Grass is Singing viii. 157 He stubbornly went his own way,
feeling as if she had encouraged him to swim in deep waters beyond his
strength, and then left him to his own devices.

6.4: The maritime tract belonging to a particular nation; the seas and
oceans in a particular quarter of the globe.
1659 in Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1878) III. 487
Who..went aboard of tuo Dutch wessellis lying near Inchkeyth, being within
our watteris.
1920 Round Table Dec. 89 The Alliance..freed us from the necessity of
keeping more than a skeleton force in eastern waters in order to defend the
Dominions and India.

6.5: In Hunting, Steeplechasing, etc. Streams or ditches which a horse
is required to leap.
1860 Ld. W. Lennox Pict. Sporting Life I. 328
You will find him [a horse] a splendid fencer, I never saw the like of him
at timber or water; no gate or brook will stop him.
6.6. To make a hole in the water: to commit suicide by drowning.
1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. xlvi,
Why I don't go and make a hole in the water I don't know.




6.7. Pictorial representations of tracts of water.
(this is funny. Adam Kilgariff has an essay entitled "I don't believe in
word senses", where he criticises this usage and others (e.g. "horse",
representation of a horse!).


1747 Francis tr. Horace, Art P. 34 note, It is chiefly in this View, that
Ruisdale's Waters, and Claude Lorrain's Skies are so admirable.

USAGE 7: In phrases relating to navigation.
7.1. by water: by ship or boat on the sea or a lake or river or canal.
7.2. on or upon (the) water (ME. †a wætere): on the sea, in naval
employments or enterprises. Also, to be on the water, to be in course of
transport by sea.
7.3. In London the above phrases are often used with reference to the
Thames. Similarly to go on the water.
1600 Essex Reb. Exam. (MS.) in Shaks. Cent. Praise (1879) 35
They went all together to the Globe over the water wher the L. Chamberlens
men vse to play.

USAGE 8 to take the water.
8.1. To enter the sea, a lake or river, and begin to swim. To embark, take
ship; to take a boat on the Thames. `To abandon one's position' (Thornton).
8.2. Of a ship: To be launched.
1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) 470 To Take Water. To run away, make off.
A Western expression, doubtless borrowed from sportsmen. 1891 C. Roberts
Adrift Amer. 200 The fellow, who was really a coward, though nearly twice
as big as myself, took water at once.

USAGE 9. 9.1 Quantity or depth of water, as sufficient or insufficient
for navigation. to draw (so much) water.
9.2. With prefixed adj., a particular state of the tide: see high water,
low water. full water = full tide.

USAGE 10. to take (in) water = to have a flaw or weak place.

USAGE 11: As an enveloping or covering medium. In various phrases.
11.1. under water: below the surface of water; (of land) flooded,
submerged. Hence fig. unsuccessful in life.
11.2. above water: above the surface of the water. Also fig., esp. in to
keep one's head above water, to avoid ruin by a continued struggle.
11.3 to lay in water, to lay a-water : to make of no effect or value; to
dissipate.
11.4. (to swim) between two waters [= F. (nager) entre deux eaux]: midway
between the surface and the bottom; fig. keeping an impartial or a
temporizing attitude between two parties.

USAGE 12: a body of water on the surface of the earth.
12.1. A body or collection of standing or flowing water, irrespective of
size; a sea, lake, river, etc.
1898 Edin. Rev. Jan. 192 Hundreds of the swallow family may sometimes be
seen together, hawking for flies over the London waters on a fine April
morning.

USAGE 12.2. A sheet of water, a lake, pool. Cf. the proper names
Derwentwater, Wastwater, Ullswater, Hawes Water, etc. in n.w. England.
1896 Housman Shropshire Lad xli, And like a skylit water stood The
bluebells in the azured wood.

USAGE 12.3. A stream, river. In early use often the water of (prefixed
to the name of a river). Now chiefly north.; often in the names of small
rivers, as Water of Esk, Water of Leith, Allan Water, Moffat Water.
1865 Geikie Scen. & Geol. i. 18 Streams, intermediate in size between
brooks and rivers, are known in as `waters'.

12.4 The banks of a river; the inhabitants of the district bordering on
a river. (Eng. Dial. Dict.)

USAGE 13. Sing. A flood.
1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. ii, The waters are out in Lincolnshire... The
adjacent low-lying ground, for half a mile in breadth, is a stagnant river.

USAGE 14 Astr. The portion of the constellation Aquarius which is
figured as a stream of water. [= L. Aqua].


THE PHILOSOPHICALLY RELEVANT USAGE, according to Harvard Prof. of Science,
Hilary Putnam et al,

CATEGORY II

USAGE 15
The substance of which the liquid "water"
is one form among several. Now known to be a
chemical compound of two volumes of
hydrogen and one of oxygen


(formula H2O).


In ancient speculation regarded as one of the four, and in pre-scientific
chemistry as one of the five elements (essences) of which all bodies are
composed (the fifth essence being the philosopher's stone).

FIRST REGISTERED USAGE:
971 Blickl. Hom. 35
Ure lichoma waes gesceapen of feower gesceaftum, of eorthan, & of fyre, &
of waetere, & of lyfte.
1390 Gower Conf. III. 92 Above therthe kepth his bounde The water, which is
the secounde Of elementz. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems x. 13 Fyre, erd, air, and
watter cleir. 1549 Compl. Scot. v. 33 This material varld that is maid of
the four elementis, of the eird, the vattir, the ayr, ande the fyir. 1669
W. Simpson Hydrol. Chymica 258 The like happens in all Vegetables, for
Water is the material Principle of Vegetables. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn.
I, Water, which the Chymists call Phlegm, is the 4th of the 5 Chimical
Principles, and one of the Passive ones. 1732 A. Stewart in Phil. Trans.
XXXVII. 330, I think the word (Spirits) was an unhappy Choice [to designate
the nervous fluid]..And the simple Qualities of a pure and perfectly
defecated elementary Water, will better suit all that our Senses can
discover of it. 1812 Playfair Nat. Philos. (1819) I. 235 On the different
quantities of heat united to the substance which we call water, depends its
existence in the state of a solid, a liquid, or an elastic fluid.

LAST REGISTERED USAGE:
1881 Sir W. Armstrong in Nature 8 Sept. 450/2
Water, being oxidised hydrogen, must be placed in the same category as the
earths.


CATEGORY III: A liquid resembling (and usually containing) water.

USAGE 16: 16.1. An aqueous decoction, infusion, or tincture, used
medicinally or as a cosmetic or a perfume. 1871 Garrod Mat. Med. (ed. 3) 4
The waters of pharmacy consist of water holding in solution very small
quantities of oils or other volatile principles.

16.2. With defining word, applied to liquid preparations of various
kinds.For illustration of the diversity of application, see cologne-water,
lavender water, orange-flower-water, rose-water; barley-water,
†chicken-water; baryta-water, gum-water, lime-water; lithia-water, potass
water, soda-water.

16.3. A distilled alcoholic liquor, = strong water, hot water. Also
burning water (= med.L. aqua ardens, F. eau ardente), alcohol.

16.4. Contextually for strong water 1 = aquafortis. Also corrosive
water, any strong acid.

USAGE 17: 17.1. Used to denote various watery liquids found in the human
or animal body, either normally or in disease. To run on a water, to
discharge a watery liquid.

17.2. ater on the brain, in the head: hydrocephalus; cf. G. wasser im
hirn, im kopf (haben). water on the knee: an excessive accumulation of
fluid in the knee joint.
17.3. The fluid contained in the amniotic cavity (liquor amnii); now
usually plural. The effusion of this fluid from the womb, which precedes
the exclusion of the foetus, is popularly denoted by the expression `the
waters have broken'.
17.4. Tears. (So often in the Bible)
1840 Dickens Old C. Shop vi, A dexterous rap on the nose with the key,
which brought the water into his eyes.
17.5 Saliva; flow of saliva provoked by appetite. to set (a person's)
teeth on water = `to make his mouth water'.
1870. W. S. Gilbert `Bab' Ballads, Etiquette 26 For the thought of Peter's
oysters brought the water to his mouth.
17.6 all on a water: covered with sweat.
17.7. The liquid of oysters.

USAGE 18 = Urine. To hold (one's) water: to retain urine.
1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 281
The quantity of water voided by a healthy adult in 24 hours is from 40 to
50 ounces.
18.2. In references (at one time very common) to the inspection of a
patient's urine as a means of diagnosis.
18.3. In fig. phrases, to attend, watch (a person's) waters [= G. eine=
m
das wasser besehen], to scrutinize his conduct rigorously.
1709 Mrs. Manley Secr. Mem. 151 Her Brother..was gone abroad..when this
Rogue..courted her, or else he had never got his Will of her; he would have
watch'd his Waters for him to some purpose.
USAGE 19: Applied to vegetable juices.
1842 Anne Pratt Pict. Catech. Bot. v. 79 [In the pitcher plant] the liquid
is a clear water, very pleasant and refreshing to the palate.

CATEGORY IV: Appearances resembling water.

USAGE 20. 20.1 The transparency and lustre characteristic of a diamond
or a pearl. The three highest grades of quality in diamonds were formerly
known as the first, second, and third water; the phrase of the first water
survives in popular use as a designation of the finest quality, often
applied to jewels generally.[The equivalent use is found in all the mod.
Rom. and Teut. langs.; it may have come from Arabic, where this sense of
ma¯', water, is a particular application of the sense `lustre, splendour'
(e.g. of a sword).]

20.2 fig. of the first (occas. purest, rarest, finest) etc. water:
originally (with implied comparison to a jewel), of the highest excellence
or purity; now only following a personal designation (often of reproach)
with the sense `out-and-out', `thorough-paced'.

USAGE 21: 1721 Bailey, Water (among Dyers), a certain Lustre imitating
Waves, set on Silks, Mohairs, &c.
USAGE 22 a = water-colour. b pl. Water-colour paintings. colloq.
USAGE 23: The lap of one shingle in roofing.
USAGE 24: Simple attributive uses. Designating vessels in which water is
held or kept, as water-bail, -bowl, -bucket, -cruet, -fetles, -flask,
-gourd, -jar, -jug, -sack, -say, -scoop, -skeet, -skin, -stean, tank, -tin,
-trough, -tub, -tun, -vat, -vessel. See also water-bottle, -glass, etc.

24.2. Pertaining to the storage or distribution of water in considerable
quantities; as water-ditch, -lock, -place, -room, -stank, -station, -well;
water-meter, †-purveyance, -service, -storage, -supply.
24.3. Used for the carriage or transport of water, as water barge, boat,
ship, tender, truck; water animal, mule.
24.4. Designating a channel in which water runs, or any contrivance for
facilitating or regulating its flow, as water-channel, -cock, -conduct,
-conduit, -cut, -cutting; -dam, -gutter, -main, -port, -sewer, -squirt,
-tap, -trunk, -wising. See also watercourse, -furrow, etc.
24.5. Designating a machine which is worked or driven by water, a part
of a machine in which water is heated, a contrivance for drawing or
circulating water, and the like; as water-back, -barrel, -bellows, -blast,
-box, -chamber, -corn-mill, -drum, -feed, -gin, -grist-mill, -motion,
-motor, -trap, -trompe, -turbine, -whim.
24.6. Designating implements or contrivances used in or on the water, as
water-cord, -dress, -staff, -stang.
24.7. Designating (a) a water-tight contrivance, as water-joint, -packer;
(b) a body of water which makes a vessel air-tight or gas-tight, as
water-lute, -luting, -seal.
24.8. Deignating substances which harden under water and so become
impervious to it, as water-cement, -lime, -mortar. Cf. hydraulic a. 3.
24.9. Pertaining to water as a beverage, or as a (teetotal) article of
diet, as water-day, -diet, -doctrine -drink, -time; relating to the use of
water in medical treatment, as water-dressing, -patient, strapping; also
water-cure.
24.10. Pertaining to water as a physiographical feature or factor, as
water-action, -brim, -depths, -drainage, -edge, -flow, -ground, -land,
-point, -rim, -scene, -shore, -strand, -view.In many of these combinations
the first element is equivalent to the genitive water's, and in early and
dial. examples the sense may often be `pertaining to the specified "water"'=.
Consisting of, holding or containing, formed or caused by, water; as
water-blowball, †water-breath, -breeze, -brook, -chasm, -cloud, -column,
-draught, -drip, -fence, -flow, -foam, -fount, -gush, -leak, -mist,
-passage, -plash, -race, -ring, -ripple, -run, -slide, -song, -sphere,
-spray, -spread, †-sprinkle, -stripe, -surface, -swirl, -talk, -vein,
-wash, -wear, -world.

Also Situated or built on or beside water, as water-beacon, -brae,
-bridge, -castle, -door, -doorway, -frontage, -stable, -stairs, -steps,
-tack. Also water-front.

Performed, conducted, taking place, on or in the water; as water-ballet,
-excursion, -fight, -life, -motion, -music, -pageant, -song, -sonnet,
-sports, etc.
1888 L. A. Smith Music of Waters 83 The verses and tune of this
water-song..follow.
Pertaining to transit or transport by water, as water-communication,
-highway, -route, -traction.
Living or occupied on the water; faring by water; as water-guide,
-people, -police. Also, found on the water, as water-brother, -stray,
-wayfarer.
Designating fabulous beings that live in, or have rule over, water; as
water-deity, -demon, -devil, -elf, -fairy, -fay, -fiend, -ghost, -goblin,
-god, -kelpie, -king, -nixie, -shape, -spirit, -sprite, -wraith. Also
water-horse, -nymph.
Occas. used to designate freshwater, as opposed to saltwater, objects;
as water-fish, -land, -sand.

USAGE 25: Objective: a with vbl. sbs. and pres. pples., as
water-blowing, -commanding, -divining, -dowsing, -drawing, -fetching,
-flinging, -holding, -loving, -raising, -receiving, -retaining, -selling,
-yielding; also with sbs. and adjs., as water-retention, -retentive.
With agent-nouns, as water-drawer, -fearer, -haunter, -lover, -tender,
†-searcher, -seller, -supplier.
In names of machines, implements, or natural agencies, as †water-chafe=
r,
-conductor, -feeder, -forcer, -heater, -holder, -regulator.
USAGE 26: Instrumental: a with pa. pples., as water-beaten, -bollen,
-cooled, -cut, -eaten, -filled, -girt, -gyved, -hidden, -inwoven, -loaden,
-locked, -marrowed, -mingled, -mixed, -pillared, -rolled, -rounded,
-saturated, -sealed, -shafted, -smoothed, -sodden, -sorted, sprinkled,
-tempered, -walled, -wattled, -whipped, -wound; also with adjs., as
water-dispersible, -poor, -rich. Also water-bound, -logged, -soaked,
-washed, -worn, etc.
With pres. pples., as †water-flowing, -rippling, -standing; with vbl.
sbs., as water-dripping, -planing, -rolling, -seasoning, -spinning,
-steeping, -wasting.

USAGE 27: Locative, with agent-nouns and vbl. sbs., as water-diver,
farer, -skirmisher; water-building, -dwelling, -faring, -hunting. Also
water-dwelling, -haunting, -growing, -living, -standing ppl. adjs.;
water-gifted adj.

USAGE 28: Similative, as water-grey, -green, -white adjs. (and sbs.);
water-chilly, -clear, -cold, -dark, -eager, -flowing, -precious, weak, adjs.

USAGE 29: Special comb.: e.g.
water-boy, (a) a boy employed at the riverside; the constellation Aquarius.
USAGE 30. In combination denoting water-living animals.
USAGE 31. In combinations denoting vegetable growths that live in water.
USAGE 32: Med. Designating specific ailments, eruptions, etc., as
†water-bladder, -blister, -farcin, -garget, -murrain, -pang; water-blebs,
pemphigus; water-brash, pyrosis; water-canker, a form of stomatitis;
water-pox, chicken-pox; water-stroke (see quots.); †water-wheal, a watery
blister.

USAGE 33: Prefixed to certain designations of measures of capacity, to
denote the larger measures used for goods sold on board ship (see
water-measure), as water bushel, firlot, peck; also water met =
water-measure. A related use seems to exist in water-fother (quot. 1300),
but the sense is obscure."

"but the sense is obscure".

Because it's just an extended 'use' of 'water'.