noun
drinking water; act of drinking water
Refers to the action of drinking water, often used in contexts like giving water to animals or taking a drink.
鳥が水飲みに来ている。
A bird has come to drink water.
テーブルに水飲みを置いてください。
Please put a drinking glass on the table.
小鳥のために水飲みを買った。
I bought a waterer for the small birds.
noun
Abbreviation of 水呑み百姓 (mizunomi-byakushō), a historical term for a poor peasant who could only afford to drink water. Rare and archaic outside historical contexts.
See also: 水呑み百姓
江戸時代には水呑みと呼ばれる貧しい農民がいた。
In the Edo period, there were poor peasants called mizunomi.
Compound of 水 (mizu, 'water') and 飲み (nomi, 'drinking'), the continuative form of 飲む (nomu, 'to drink'). The peasant sense is a shortening of 水呑み百姓.