jerkwater
Meanings
Plural: jerkwaters
Adjective Satellite
- small and remote and insignificant
- "a jerkwater college"
Noun
- A train on a branch line.
- A jerkwater town.
Adj
- Of an inhabited place, small, insignificant, and backward.
Origin / Etymology
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, where the train did not stop, this was done by scooping ("jerking") water from a track pan. First appears c. 1852, in the Miami County Sentinel (Peru, Indiana).
Scrabble Score: 23
jerkwater is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordjerkwater is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
jerkwater is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 25
jerkwater is a valid Words With Friends word