Common expressions with wear and water

Wear means ‘have on the body’.

He was wearing a hat.

Wear can also refer to a person’s facial expression.

She was wearing a troubled look.

Wear one’s hair long (allow it to be long)

Wear off

Wear off means pass away.

The feeling of strangeness soon wore off.

Wear on (= pass slowly away)

Time wears on.

Wear out (= make or become exhausted)

His patience wore out at last.
He was worn out by hard work. (= He was exhausted by hard work.)

The worse for wear (= no longer in a good and useful condition)

He had a minor accident and he is the worse for wear. (= He is injured.)
After journeying over bad roads, the car is looking the worse for wear.

Common expressions with water

Get into hot water
When you get into hot water you get into trouble because of your foolish behavior.

The minister got into hot water by making some controversial comments about immigration.

Throw cold water on
To throw cold water on a plan etc is to discourage it.

He is always throwing cold water on my plans.

Hold water
If a theory or argument holds water, it is true.

Your arguments against outsourcing don’t hold water.

In low water
When you are in low water, you are short of money.

Be in deep water

When you are in deep water, you are in serious trouble.

The government is in deep water over its plans to raise taxes.