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wa·ter·cool·er | \ ˈwȯ-tər-ˌkü-lər 
, ˈwä- \
, ˈwä- \Definition of watercooler
: a device for dispensing refrigerated drinking water
Examples of watercooler in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web The informal nature of a chat app, where dozens of coworkers might treat it like a watercooler, could compound this problem.
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Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, "Tracking the future of remote workplaces: Apps, communication, and liability," 3 Feb. 2020 Hulu turned writer Lindy West’s memoir Shrill into a biting dramedy and Margaret Atwood’s dystopian Handmaid’s Tale into an engrossing watercooler show.
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Angela Watercutter, Wired, "The 19 Best Shows of a Decade That Queered Television," 30 Dec. 2019 Ever get the sense of being left out of watercooler conversations, inside jokes and the fast track for promotions?
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Hui Liao, baltimoresun.com, "How managers and employees can fight favoritism," 5 Dec. 2019 The nightly shows, with their daily writing processes that often get upended by the latest gaffe/mistake/racist comment from POTUS, have to respond within hours — with jokes that often become raw, watercooler-type moments.
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Jennifer Konerman, The Hollywood Reporter, "Emmys: Where's the Variety in the Variety Talk Race?," 15 Aug. 2019 And those same readers may be looking for the kind of full-court, blogosphere press typically reserved for watercooler shows like Sharp Objects and meme machines like A Star Is Born.
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Christian Lorentzen, Harper's magazine, "Like This or Die," 10 Apr. 2019 That means, says ABC, that Grey's is going to be ABC’s longest-running primetime drama series, and (here's a watercooler fact) only seven TV dramas have ever run for longer.
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Krystin Arneson, Glamour, "Grey's Anatomy Is Coming Back for a 15th Season—and Setting a Major Record on the Way," 21 Apr. 2018 Whether President Trump can be beaten is a constant source of watercooler talk among New Hampshire GOPers.
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John King And Tasha Diakides, CNN, "Why Trump may face 2020 primary challenges in New Hampshire," 18 Mar. 2018 For more than a decade at its early and mid-2000s peak, American Idol was the nation's watercooler.
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Gil Kaufman, Billboard, "'American Idol,' Where Are They Now? From Jennifer Hudson to Sanjaya, Clay Aiken, Daughtry & Ruben Studdard," 9 Mar. 2018
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'watercooler.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for watercooler
The first known use of watercooler was in 1807
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