waterboard

English

Etymology

From Middle English water boarde, waterbord, equivalent to water +‎ board. Compare West Frisian wetterboard (“waterboard”), Dutch waterbord (“waterboard”), German Wassertafel (“waterboard”), Danish vandbræt (“waterboard”), Swedish vattenbräda (“waterboard”), Icelandic vatnsbretti (“waterboard”).

Noun

waterboard (plural waterboards)

1. A board set up to windward in a boat, to keep out water.
2. A public commission charged with overseeing water quality in a particular area.
   • 2005, Ruth M. Mourik, Did Water Kill the Cows?‎^[1], page 167:

     The waterboard argued that the quality of the water was good […]

Verb

waterboard (third-person singular simple present waterboards, present participle waterboarding, simple past and past participle waterboarded)

1. To subject to waterboarding, to pour water over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive.

   We waterboarded the suspect, but he refused to confess.

Translations

to subject to waterboarding

• Swedish: skendränka

Anagrams

• Broadwater