jerkwater
See also: jerk-water and jerk water
English
WOTD – 20 April 2010
Etymology
US mid-19th century. From jerk (“to move with a sudden movement”) + water. Refers to the need to supply the boilers of steam trains with water. In rural areas, and small towns with no water tower, this was done with buckets from local sources such as streams.
Pronunciation
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈdʒɚk.wɔ.tɚ/
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun
jerkwater (plural jerkwaters)
- (US, historical) A train on a branch line.
- 1975, Indiana Historical Society, Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 71, no. 1 (Mar. 1975), page 355
- […] by bailing from near streams with buckets, (the brake-man called this operation jerking water) and from this the road gets its name of jerkwater road.
- 1975, Indiana Historical Society, Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 71, no. 1 (Mar. 1975), page 355
Translations
a train on a branch line
Adjective
jerkwater (comparative more jerkwater, superlative most jerkwater)
- (US, colloquial, derogatory) Of an inhabited place, small, insignificant, and backward.
Synonyms
- See: Thesaurus:remote place
Derived terms
- jerkwater town
Translations
of an inhabited place, small, insignificant, backward
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Related terms
- jerk water
- jerk-water