watering place

watering place (plural watering places)

1. A place where water may be obtained, e.g. for a ship or for cattle.
   • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

     The station of the little watering-place was almost deserted, but a small, fat man in a fur overcoat ran forward to meet them, and greeted them warmly.

2. A place where there are springs of medicinal water, or a place by the sea, or by some large body of water, that people visit for bathing, recreation, boating, etc.
   • 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt , London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     "You should drop all work instantly, Challenger, and take three months in a German watering-place," said he.

   • 1940 May, H. Fayle, “The Bessbrook & Newry Tramway”, in Railway Magazine, page 285:

     Newry [...] cannot be described as a tourist centre, though it is only six miles from the well-known watering place of Warrenpoint.

   • 2020 July 29, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Railways that reach out over the waves”, in Rail, page 49:

     At 2,248 feet in length, the pier was designed to meet the needs of steamers, with the town a popular watering-place among Victorian and Edwardian visitors.

3. (informal) A place where alcohol is sold and consumed; a bar.

• “watering place”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.