said of a great number of persons or things, especially when pressed against one another—UK, 1776—refers to herrings in a barrel| word histories
very boring or unexciting—‘(as) dull as ditchwater’ (1770)—the later phrase ‘(as) dull as dishwater’ (1832) is probably due to mispronunciation of ‘ditchwater’ in the original phrase…| word histories