Word.ws English Dictionary

take in water

take in water is the alternative form of take on water.

Meaning of take on water

Verb

take on water (third-person singular simple present takes on water, present participle taking on water, simple past took on water, past participle taken on water)

  1. (boat, or other watercraft) To slowly fill with water, as due to a leak or being washed by high waves; to begin to sink.
    • The skipper, Matt Craughwell, said their boat had begun to take on water after being tossed, stern upwards, by huge waves.2012 January 31, Charlie Cooper, Simon Rice, “How six would-be record-breakers ended up in seriously deep water”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 08 Jan 2016
  2. (broadly, idiomatic) To be in an increasingly difficult or risky situation; to falter or begin to fail.
    • While the heartland is chugging right along, the economies of Southern California and New England are still taking on water.1994 January 2, Peter Passell, “Clear Today; Tomorrow, Who Knows?; Catch '94”, in New York Times, retrieved 08 Jan 2016

Forms of take in water

third-person singular presenttakes in water
present participletaking in water
pasttook in water
past participletaken in water

Questions about take in water

What is take in water the alternative form of?
Take in water is the alternative form of take on water.

Words near take in water in the dictionary

  1. take huff
  2. take ill
  3. take in
  4. take in hand
  5. take in turn
  6. take in water
  7. take into account
  8. take into consideration
  9. take inventory
  10. take issue to
  11. take issue with

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: take in water (page history and authors); take on water (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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