Wick Away

Years ago, Marina and I were searching for hiking socks for her trip to Machu Picchu. The fella at REI told us to look for ones that "wick away". We had never heard of this term and were told that those types of socks wick away moisture. That made even less sense. I still don't fully grasp how this is possible. Anyway, from that moment on we talked of nothing but things that wick away.

Marina: "Here's a shirt that wicks away. It's on sale - for thirty nine bucks!"
Star: "Jesus, fer that much money if yer drownin' in the ocean it better wick away til you're settin' pretty."
Marina: "If you're in a raft it blows you out of the water and propels you onto land.