water wing

noun

1

water wings plural : a pneumatic device to give support to the body of a person swimming or learning to swim

disgusted Londoners discovered that their car was as useful to them as water-wings in a desert

—Mollie Panter-Downes

2

: a wall forming a wing to the abutment of a bridge or pier and extending laterally along the shore on either side as a protection from the current

Word History

First Known Use

1907, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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