thin as a yard of pump water

adjective

Very thin (skinny).

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Meanings

adjectivethin as a yard of pump water (not comparable)
  1. UKUSdialectalnot comparableVery thin (skinny).

    […] managed, but they all went on looking so thin as a yard of pump water except Dicky — and he grew fat.

    1968, Katharine M. Briggs, Folktales of England, University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 74
    4 more examples

    Her mother was betwixt and between, and her father the same; but Rosie was as thin as a yard of pump-water, and could—and did—eat like a beagle without ever putting-on an extra ounce. Maybe she was abusing her good-fortune.

    1947, Lynn Doyle, Green Oranges: Stories

    She wadn't no summer morning to look at, poor soul, and her mistress kept her so thin as a yard of pump water. But there Providence knows best! There were a old fellow over by Aisholt, and he were such a upstanding courageous man he'd a […]

    1965, Publications of the Folk-lore Society

    […] puts away enough food to satiate a pack of ravenous hyenas and remains as thin as a yard of pump water. It's the injustice of the whole thing that infuriates me.

    2014, Daniel P Mannix, Freaks: We Who Are Not As Others, eNet Press, →ISBN, page 139

    'Mmm. You're as pale as a lily and as thin as a yard of pump water. Mind you, a month or two out working in all weathers should pink you up, and rationing or no, I'll find something to put a bit of weight on you.'

    2018, Gloria Cook, Never Just a Memory, Canelo, →ISBN

Origin

A stream of water falling approximately three feet from a water pump into a bucket is both straight and thin.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

thin as a yard of pump water. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thin%20as%20a%20yard%20of%20pump%20water

MLA

“thin as a yard of pump water.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thin%20as%20a%20yard%20of%20pump%20water. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “thin as a yard of pump water,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thin%20as%20a%20yard%20of%20pump%20water.

Source: thin as a yard of pump water on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.