Informal a Mexican agricultural laborer who illegally enters or is brought into the U.S. to work: a term of derision or contempt
Origin of wetback
from crossing the border by swimming or wading the Rio Grandewetback
wet·backWebster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"wetback." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/wetback>.
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wetback. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/wetback
wetback
noun
Offensive SlangUsed as a disparaging term for a person of Mexican birth or descent, especially one who has crossed the US-Mexico border illegally.
Origin of wetback
From the fact that the Rio Grande is a common entry pointTHE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"wetback." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/wetback>.
APA Style
wetback. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/wetback
Noun
(plural wetbacks)
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"wetback." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/wetback>.
APA Style
wetback. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/wetback
