A sewer is a large underground channel that carries waste matter and rain water away, usually to a place where it is treated and made harmless.
...the city's sewer system.
...open sewers.
sewer in British English1
(ˈsuːə)
noun
1.
a drain or pipe, esp one that is underground, used to carry away surface water or sewage
verb
2. (transitive)
to provide with sewers
Word origin
C15: from Old French esseveur, from essever to drain, from Vulgar Latin exaquāre (unattested), from Latin ex-1 + aqua water
sewer in British English2
(ˈsəʊə)
noun
a person or thing that sews
sewer in British English3
(ˈsuːə)
noun
(in medieval England) a servant of high rank in charge of the serving of meals and the seating of guests
Word origin
C14: shortened from Anglo-French asseour, from Old French asseoir to cause to sit, from Latin assidēre, from sedēre to sit
sewer in American English1
(ˈsuər)
noun
1.
a pipe or drain, usually underground, used to carry off water and waste matter
verb intransitive
2.
to clean or maintain sewers
Word origin
ME < MFr esseweur < essever, to drain off < VL *exaquare < L ex, out + aqua, water: see island
sewer in American English2
(ˈsoʊər)
noun
a person or thing that sews
sewer in American English3
(ˈsuər)
noun
a medieval servant of high rank in charge of serving meals and seating guests
Word origin
ME, aphetic < Anglo-Fr asseour < OFr asseoir, to seat, cause to sit < L assidere, to sit by < ad-, to + sedere, to sit
Examples of 'sewer' in a sentence
sewer
So much rain came down that drains and sewers became overloaded.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
You can make waste sewer pipes out of it.
Christianity Today (2000)
Smoke poured through manhole covers from underground sewers.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
They are now able to refuse to disclose spill data on many of their sewer overflow pipes.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
It has open sewers and communal lavatories.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It was all channelled into the sewers.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Not that the problem is over if the fat makes it past your pipes into the sewers.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The problem is often sewers overflowing after heavy rain.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Four or five years ago, our project connected it to the city sewer network.
Charles Glass The Tribes Triumphant (2006)
That's if you managed to get into the sewer system at all.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
That's why they had to build a sewer set in the studios for his scenes.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
If a public sewer is available, you will have to connect your foul drains to that.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
If the rats had moved from the sewer into the drains, this was their way out.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
His father worked in construction, building roads and sewers.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
It was an argument that the great pioneers who put in the Victorian sewers would have fully understood.
Redwood, John The Global Marketplace (1993)
One of the big problems now facing the industry is sporadic discharges when the sewer system is unable to cope with heavy rain and sewage.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
I was filming in the city 's vast sewer system for three weeks.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The sewer system runs from west London to east, on a downward tilt.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Furthermore, the person who owns the land through which a sewer runs is not liable to repair it unless he has specifically agreed to do so.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Just as we waited until the last moment before replacing crumbling Victorian sewers, we have now reached a similar point with our energy infrastructure.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In other languages
sewer
British English: sewer /ˈsuːə/ NOUN
A sewer is a large underground channel that carries waste matter and rainwater away.