waterfall

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A waterfall-like outpouring of liquid, smoke, etc.

   A waterfall of mist came from the open freezer.

2. 2
   noun

   Short for waterfall model

   A very long duration project […] had taken a whole group of people through a painful waterfall development process.

3. 3
   noun

   The action of drinking from a vessel without touching it with the lips, considered more sanitary for a shared vessel.

   Hey man, can I take a waterfall from your bottle?

4. 4
   noun

   A beard.

   I found home a dreary place after my long absence; for half the children I had known were now wearing whiskers or waterfalls, […]

5. 5
   verb

   To fall like a waterfall.

   Rain ran off the bill of his fielder's cap and waterfalled in front of his face.

6. 6
   noun

   a steep descent of the water of a river

7. 7
   noun

   A flow of water over the edge of a cliff.

8. 8
   noun

   A necktie.

Etymology

From Middle English waterfal, waterfalle, from Old English wæterġefeall (“waterfall”), equivalent to water + fall. Cognate with West Frisian wetterfal (“waterfall”), Dutch waterval (“waterfall”), German Wasserfall (“waterfall”), Swedish vattenfall (“waterfall”).