single word requests - "Eat" is to "feed" as "drink" is to what?


I can say "I feed someone". Am I forced to say "I give someone a drink", or is there a single word for this (as in "I [verb] someone")? Unfortunately my thesaurus can't really help me.



Answer



I don't think there is a single transitive verb for "give drink to [someone]".


If that someone is an animal, you could use water, as in to feed and water a horse:



I didn't go anywhere the next day except up to Grandpa's to feed and water the horse and mule and Granny's chickens.



However, it's unlikely you would use this for a person; the phrase fed and watered refers almost exclusively to livestock, and watered, alone, more to plants, as in I watered the geranium today. It can be used humorously, for example, if you say to a host upon your arrival, to mean that you've already eaten, "No worries; we've already been fed and watered."


If that someone is a baby, you can also suckle them—but this word has even narrower application.


You might try a synonym of sorts for "give," and let the context fill in that a drink was given: (as waitstaff) I served her, I delivered his order; (at the table) I poured her some, I filled his glass.


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