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Meaning & use

water skin

noun·Advanced

Last updated

UK/ˈwɔːtə skɪn/
US/ˈwɔːtər skɪn/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable

    A bag made from animal hide, sewn and sealed to carry drinking water on a journey.

    Grammar: Countable: a water skin, two water skins. Sometimes written waterskin as one word.

    Patterns

    • fill a water skin
    • a water skin of something

    The caravan leader checked that every water skin was full before they entered the desert.

    He hung the leather water skin from his saddle.

    Shepherds in the mountains once kept goat milk and water in a water skin.

  2. nouncountable

    A modern flexible bag or pouch used by hikers and soldiers to carry water.

    Grammar: Countable; in this sense it is usually made from plastic or fabric rather than hide.

    Patterns

    • pack a water skin

    The hiker rolled up the empty water skin and slipped it into her pocket.

    Each cadet carried a water skin on the long march.

    A collapsible water skin takes up almost no room in a backpack.

Word forms

pluralwater skins

Common combinations

fill a water skin
They filled the water skin at the well.
leather water skin
The leather water skin kept the water cool.
carry a water skin
Every traveler carried a water skin on the long trail.
empty water skin
An empty water skin is a worrying sight in the desert.
goatskin water skin
A goatskin water skin was traded at the market.

Synonyms and how they differ

waterbag
Waterbag is a general term for any bag holding water, while a water skin is traditionally made of hide.
wineskin
A wineskin is the same kind of animal-hide bag but made for wine instead of water.
canteen
A canteen is a rigid or semi-rigid bottle, often metal, carried by soldiers and hikers, while a water skin is soft and flexible.
flask
A flask is a small, hard container, often for spirits or hot drinks, whereas a water skin is large and flexible.

Word family

skin noun
the outer covering of an animal, here used as a container
water noun
the clear liquid the bag holds
waterproof adjective
not letting water pass through
wineskin noun
a similar bag for carrying wine

Commonly confused: water skin or canteen?

water skin vs canteen

A canteen is a hard-sided drinking bottle (or, in British English, a dining room at work), not a soft bag of hide.

Practice

Before crossing the dry plain, the nomads refilled each ______ at the oasis.

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