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Webster 1913 Edition

Geyser

Gey′ser

,
Noun.
[Icel.
geysir
, fr.
geysa
to rush furiously, fr.
gjōsa
to gush. Cf.
Gush
.]
A boiling spring which throws forth at frequent intervals jets of water, mud, etc., driven up by the expansive power of steam.
☞ Geysers were first known in Iceland, and later in New Zealand. In the Yellowstone region in the United States they are numerous, and some of them very powerful, throwing jets of boiling water and steam to a height of 200 feet. They are grouped in several areas called geyser basins. The mineral matter, or geyserite, with which geyser water is charged, forms geyser cones about the orifice, often of great size and beauty.

Definition 2024

geyser

geyser

English

The Great Geysir gave its name to all geysers

Noun

Strokkur, another Icelandic geyser.

geyser ‎(plural geysers)

  1. (planetology, geology, volcanology) A boiling natural spring which throws forth at frequent intervals jets of water, mud etc., driven up by the expansive power of steam.
  2. (Britain, archaic) An instantaneous, and often dangerous, hot water heater.
    • 1902. William Paton Buchan, Plumbing: A Text-book to the Practice of the Art Or Craft of the Plumber:
      Where a Geyser or hot-water heater is used it is a good and wise precaution to see that the bath-room, &c., when it is used is well ventilated.
    • 1998, Gordon S Riess, Confessions of a Corporate Centurion: Tales of International Adventures
      Water was heated either on the gas stove, or on a wall mounted gas-fired "geyser" heater.
    • 2002, Alaine Polcz, One woman in the war: Hungary, 1944-1945:
      It was here I saw a geyser gas water heater in a bathroom for the first time. (I was afraid of it).
  3. (South Africa) A domestic water boiler.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ↑ source EVS Translations

Anagrams

French

Noun

geyser m ‎(plural geysers)

  1. (geology) geyser

Etymology

From the name of a particular Icelandic geyser which is mentioned as early as the 1760s in The Annual Register, as “Geyser, a wonderful spring in the valley of Haukadal”.[1] From Geysir ‎(“Gusher”), the Icelandic name of the hot spring in Iceland (see Wikipedia), from the verb geysa ‎(“to gush”), from Old Norse geysa ‎(“to gush”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɡaɪzə/, /ˈɡiːzə/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɡaɪzɚ/
  • Rhymes: -aɪzə(r) or Rhymes: -iːzə(r)
  • Homophones: guiser, geezer

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