Meanings
plural waterglassfuls
- As much as a water glass will hold.
Fasting stomach: two waterglassfuls of contents.
1907, I[smar Isidor] Boas, translated by Albert Bernheim, Diseases of the Stomach, Philadelphia, Pa.: F. A. Davis Company, page 5355 more examples
[…]add gently a table-spoonful of flour (stirring all the while), and a water-glassful of good stock, with salt and pepper;
1876 February 14, “The Household. Recipes and Recommendations, Practical and Ornamental.”, in The Evening Star, volume 47, number 7,140, Washington, D.C.A waterglassful, five fluid ounces, would hold in solution about 0.8 grains of strychnia.
1905 March 4, “Found Poison in Water. Chemist Finds Strychnine in the Bottle of Poland Water.”, in Oakland Tribune, volume LXIII, number 11, Oakland, Calif., section “The Dose”, page 5He poured himself half a waterglassful of the whiskey out of the pint bottle which he had gone out to buy.
1945, Raymond Chandler, Five Sinister Characters, Avon Book Company, page 57When the seeds begin to crackle—in about a minute—pour four waterglassfuls of cold water over them.
1953, Esquire’s Handbook for Hosts, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, page 29that settled her for a bit and we sat for a bit and we sat drinking down the waterglassfuls of wine, port.
1972, Charles Bukowski, edited by Gail Chiarrello, Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness, City Lights Books, published July 1974, →ISBN, page 68
Origin
Cite this entry
waterglassful. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waterglassful
“waterglassful.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waterglassful. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “waterglassful,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waterglassful.
Source: waterglassful on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.