Water vs. Steam

Waternoun

(uncountable) A substance (of molecular formula H₂O) found at room temperature and pressure as a clear liquid; it is present naturally as rain, and found in rivers, lakes and seas; its solid form is ice and its gaseous form is steam.

‘By the action of electricity, the water was resolved into its two parts, oxygen and hydrogen.’;

Steamnoun

The vapor formed when water changes from liquid phase to gas phase.

Waternoun

The liquid form of this substance: liquid H₂O.

‘May I have a glass of water?’; ‘Your plants need more water.’;

Steamnoun

Pressurized water vapour used for heating, cooking, or to provide mechanical energy.

Waternoun

(countable) A serving of liquid water.

Steamnoun

(figuratively) Internal energy for motive power.

‘After three weeks in bed he was finally able to sit up under his own steam.’;

Waternoun

The aforementioned liquid, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy.

‘He showed me the river of living water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God.’;

Steamnoun

(figuratively) Pent-up anger.

‘Dad had to go outside to blow off some steam.’;

Waternoun

Water in a body; an area of open water.

‘The boat was found within the territorial waters.’; ‘These seals are a common sight in the coastal waters of Chile.’;

Steamnoun

A steam-powered vehicle.

Waternoun

A body of water, almost always a river.

Steamnoun

Travel by means of a steam-powered vehicle.

Waternoun

A combination of water and other substance(s).

Steamnoun

(obsolete) Any exhalation.

Waternoun

Mineral water.

‘Perrier is the most popular water in this restaurant.’;

Steamnoun

(fencing) Fencing without the use of any electric equipment.

Waternoun

Spa water.

‘Many people visit Bath to take the waters.’;

Steamverb

To cook with steam.

Waternoun

(pharmacy) A solution in water of a gaseous or readily volatile substance.

‘ammonia water’;

Steamverb

(transitive) To expose to the action of steam; to apply steam to for softening, dressing, or preparing.

‘to steam wood or cloth’;

Waternoun

Urine.

Steamverb

(intransitive) To produce or vent steam.

Waternoun

Amniotic fluid; used only in the plural in the UK but often also in the singular in North America, especially to avoid cacophony, as in this example: (The Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary says "often used in plural; also: bag of waters")

‘Before the child is born, the pregnant woman’s water breaks.’; ‘Before your child is born, your water(s) will break.’; ‘Before the child is born, the pregnant woman’s waters break.’;

Steamverb

(intransitive) To rise in vapour; to issue, or pass off, as vapour.

Waternoun

Fluids in the body, especially when causing swelling.

‘He suffers from water on the knee.’;

Steamverb

To become angry; to fume; to be incensed.

Waternoun

A state of affairs; conditions; usually with an adjective indicating an adverse condition.

‘The rough waters of change will bring about the calm after the storm.’;

Steamverb

To make angry.

‘It really steams me to see her treat him like that.’;

Waternoun

A person's intuition.

‘I know he'll succeed. I feel it in my waters.’;

Steamverb

(intransitive) To be covered with condensed water vapor.

‘With all the heavy breathing going on the windows were quickly steamed in the car.’;

Waternoun

Excess valuation of securities.

Steamverb

(intransitive) To travel by means of steam power.

‘We steamed around the Mediterranean.’;

Waternoun

The limpidity and lustre of a precious stone, especially a diamond.

‘a diamond of the first water is perfectly pure and transparent’;

Steamverb

To move with great or excessive purposefulness.

‘If he heard of anyone picking the fruit he would steam off and lecture them.’;

Waternoun

A wavy, lustrous pattern or decoration such as is imparted to linen, silk, metals, etc.

Steamverb

(obsolete) To exhale.

Waterverb

(transitive) To pour water into the soil surrounding (plants).

Steamadjective

Old-fashioned; from before the digital age.

Waterverb

(transitive) To wet or supply with water; to moisten; to overflow with water; to irrigate.

Steamnoun

The elastic, aëriform fluid into which water is converted when heated to the boiling point; water in the state of vapor.

Waterverb

(transitive) To provide (animals) with water for drinking.

‘I need to go water the cattle.’;

Steamnoun

The mist formed by condensed vapor; visible vapor; - so called in popular usage.

Waterverb

(intransitive) To get or take in water.

‘The ship put into port to water.’;

Steamnoun

Any exhalation.

Waterverb

To urinate onto.

‘Nature called, so I stepped into the woods and watered a tree.’;

Steamverb

To emit steam or vapor.

‘My brother's ghost hangs hovering there,O'er his warm blood, that steams into the air.’; ‘Let the crude humors danceIn heated brass, steaming with fire intense.’;

Waterverb

(transitive) To dilute.

‘Can you water the whisky, please?’;

Steamverb

To rise in vapor; to issue, or pass off, as vapor.

‘The dissolved amber . . . steamed away into the air.’;

Waterverb

To overvalue (securities), especially through deceptive accounting.

Steamverb

To move or travel by the agency of steam.

‘The vessel steamed out of port.’;

Waterverb

(intransitive) To fill with or secrete water.

‘Chopping onions makes my eyes water.’; ‘The smell of fried onions makes my mouth water.’;

Steamverb

To generate steam; as, the boiler steams well.

Waterverb

(transitive) To wet and calender, as cloth, so as to impart to it a lustrous appearance in wavy lines; to diversify with wavelike lines.

‘to water silk’;

Steamverb

To exhale.

Waternoun

The fluid which descends from the clouds in rain, and which forms rivers, lakes, seas, etc.

Steamverb

To expose to the action of steam; to apply steam to for softening, dressing, or preparing; as, to steam wood; to steamcloth; to steam food, etc.

Waternoun

A body of water, standing or flowing; a lake, river, or other collection of water.

‘Remembering he had passed over a small water a poor scholar when first coming to the university, he kneeled.’;

Steamnoun

water at boiling temperature diffused in the atmosphere

Waternoun

Any liquid secretion, humor, or the like, resembling water; esp., the urine.

Steamverb

travel by means of steam power;

‘The ship steamed off into the Pacific’;

Waternoun

A solution in water of a gaseous or readily volatile substance; as, ammonia water.

Steamverb

emit steam;

‘The rain forest was literally steaming’;

Waternoun

The limpidity and luster of a precious stone, especially a diamond; as, a diamond of the first water, that is, perfectly pure and transparent. Hence, of the first water, that is, of the first excellence.

Steamverb

rise as vapor

Waternoun

A wavy, lustrous pattern or decoration such as is imparted to linen, silk, metals, etc. See Water, v. t., 3, Damask, v. t., and Damaskeen.

Steamverb

get very angry;

‘her indifference to his amorous advances really steamed the young man’;

Waternoun

An addition to the shares representing the capital of a stock company so that the aggregate par value of the shares is increased while their value for investment is diminished, or "diluted."

Steamverb

clean by means of steaming;

‘steam-clean the upholstered sofa’;

Waterverb

To wet or supply with water; to moisten; to overflow with water; to irrigate; as, to water land; to water flowers.

‘With tears watering the ground.’; ‘Men whose lives gilded on like rivers that water the woodlands.’;

Steamverb

cook something by letting steam pass over it;

‘just steam the vegetables’;

Waterverb

To supply with water for drink; to cause or allow to drink; as, to water cattle and horses.

Steamnoun

the vapour into which water is converted when heated, forming a white mist of minute water droplets in the air

‘a cloud of steam’; ‘she wiped the steam off the mirror’; ‘steam was rising from the mugs of coffee’;

Waterverb

To wet and calender, as cloth, so as to impart to it a lustrous appearance in wavy lines; to diversify with wavelike lines; as, to water silk. Cf. Water, n., 6.

Steamnoun

the invisible gaseous form of water, formed by boiling, from which this vapour condenses.

Waterverb

To add water to (anything), thereby extending the quantity or bulk while reducing the strength or quality; to extend; to dilute; to weaken.

Steamnoun

the expansive force of steam used as a source of power for machines

‘a steam locomotive’; ‘the equipment was originally powered by steam’;

Waterverb

To shed, secrete, or fill with, water or liquid matter; as, his eyes began to water.

‘If thine eyes can water for his death.’;

Steamnoun

locomotives and railway systems powered by steam

‘we were trainspotters in the last years of steam’;

Waterverb

To get or take in water; as, the ship put into port to water.

Steamnoun

energy and momentum or impetus

‘the anti-corruption drive gathered steam’;

Waternoun

binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent

Steamverb

give off or produce steam

‘a mug of coffee was steaming at her elbow’;

Waternoun

the part of the earth's surface covered with water (such as a river or lake or ocean);

‘they invaded our territorial waters’; ‘they were sitting by the water's edge’;

Steamverb

become or cause something to become covered or misted over with steam

‘the warm air had begun to steam up the windows’; ‘the glass keeps steaming up’;

Waternoun

facility that provides a source of water;

‘the town debated the purification of the water supply’; ‘first you have to cut off the water’;

Steamverb

cook (food) by heating it in steam from boiling water

‘steam the vegetables until just tender’;

Waternoun

once thought to be one of four elements composing the universe (Empedocles)

Steamverb

(of food) cook by heating in steam

‘leave the mussels to steam’;

Waternoun

liquid excretory product;

‘there was blood in his urine’; ‘the child had to make water’;

Steamverb

clean or otherwise treat with steam

‘he steamed his shirts to remove the odour’;

Waternoun

a fluid necessary for the life of most animals and plants;

‘he asked for a drink of water’;

Steamverb

apply steam to (something fixed with adhesive) so as to open or loosen it

‘he'd steamed the letter open and then resealed it’;

Waterverb

supply with water, as with channels or ditches or streams;

‘Water the fields’;

Steamverb

(of a ship or train) travel somewhere under steam power

‘the 11.54 steamed into the station’;

Waterverb

provide with water;

‘We watered the buffalo’;

Steamverb

come, go, or move somewhere rapidly or in a forceful way

‘Jeremy steamed in ten minutes late’; ‘the company has steamed ahead with its investment programme’;

Waterverb

secrete or form water, as tears or saliva;

‘My mouth watered at the prospect of a good dinner’; ‘His eyes watered’;

Steamverb

start or join a fight

‘he'll be the one to throw the first punch, then run to the back when the others steam in’;

Waterverb

fill with tears;

‘His eyes were watering’;

Steamverb

(of a gang of thieves) move rapidly through a public place, stealing things or robbing people on the way

‘steaming is not restricted to tube trains’;

Waternoun

a colourless, transparent, odourless liquid that forms the seas, lakes, rivers, and rain and is the basis of the fluids of living organisms

‘sodium chloride dissolves in water’; ‘can I have a drink of water?’;

Steamverb

generate steam in and operate (a steam locomotive)

‘you can learn the intricacies of steaming a locomotive for the first time’;

Waternoun

water as supplied to houses or commercial establishments through pipes and taps

‘water pipes’; ‘each bedroom has a washbasin with hot and cold water’;

Steamverb

be or become extremely agitated or angry

‘you got all steamed up over nothing!’; ‘after steaming behind the closed door in his office, he came out and screamed at her’;

Waternoun

one of the four elements in ancient and medieval philosophy and in astrology (considered essential to the nature of the signs Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces)

‘a water sign’;

Steam

Steam is water in the gas phase. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization.

Waternoun

the water of a mineral spring as used medicinally for bathing in or drinking

‘you can take the waters at the Pump Room’;

Waternoun

a solution of a specified substance in water

‘ammonia water’;

Waternoun

a stretch or area of water, such as a river, sea, or lake

‘the lawns ran down to the water's edge’;

Waternoun

the surface of an area of water

‘she ducked under the water’;

Waternoun

found in, on, or near areas of water

‘a water plant’;

Waternoun

the water of a particular sea, river, or lake

‘the government are taking us into unknown waters with these changes in the legislation’; ‘the waters of Hudson Bay’;

Waternoun

an area of sea regarded as under the jurisdiction of a particular country

‘Japanese coastal waters’;

Waternoun

urine

‘drinking alcohol will make you need to pass water more often’;

Waternoun

the amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus in the womb, especially as discharged in a flow shortly before birth

‘I think my waters have broken’;

Waternoun

the quality of transparency and brilliance shown by a diamond or other gem.

Waternoun

capital stock that represents a book value greater than the true assets of a company.

Waterverb

pour or sprinkle water over (a plant or area) in order to encourage plant growth

‘I went out to water the geraniums’;

Waterverb

give a drink of water to (an animal)

‘they stopped to water the horses’;

Waterverb

(of a river) flow through (an area of land)

‘the valley is watered by the River Dee’;

Waterverb

take a fresh supply of water on board (a ship or steam train)

‘the ship was watered and fresh livestock taken aboard’;

Waterverb

(of a person's eyes) fill with tears

‘Rory blinked, his eyes watering’;

Waterverb

(of a person's mouth) produce saliva, typically in response to the sight or smell of appetizing food

‘the smell of frying bacon made Hilary's mouth water’;

Waterverb

dilute or adulterate (a drink, typically an alcoholic one) with water

‘staff at the club had been watering down the drinks’;

Waterverb

make a statement or proposal less forceful or controversial by changing or leaving out certain details

‘the army's report of its investigation was considerably watered down’;

Waterverb

increase (a company's debt, or nominal capital) by the issue of new shares without a corresponding addition to assets.

Water

Water (chemical formula H2O) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a solvent). It is vital for all known forms of life, even though it provides no calories or organic nutrients.