hydrothermal
Americanadjective
adjective
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Relating to or produced by hot water, especially water heated underground by the Earth's internal heat.
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◆ Hydrothermal energy is power that is generated using the Earth's hot water.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hydrothermal
Explanation
The adjective hydrothermal is used to describe hot water, particularly water that's heated underground. If you visit Yellowstone, you'll probably see hydrothermal attractions like geysers and hot springs. Hydrothermal derives from Greek roots hydor, "water," and therme, "heat." It's been used by geologists since the 1850s to describe underground hot water. Hydrothermal activity occurs all over the planet, and it's especially common around active volcanoes. As well as steamy hot springs and dramatic geysers shooting hot water into the air, smaller mud pots and hydrothermal vents in the ocean floor are also evidence of water heating up beneath the earth's surface.
Vocabulary lists containing hydrothermal
hydr, hydro
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hydr, hydro
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: therm
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Hydrothermal systems were essential for the development of life on Earth and our findings suggest Mars also had water, a key ingredient for habitable environments, during the earliest history of crust formation."
From Science Daily • Nov. 22, 2024
Hydrothermal explosions occur when “water suddenly flashes to steam underground,” according to a statement from the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2024
Hydrothermal energy stored in the water held by the dam will convert to kinetic energy, when it falls through the opening of the sluice.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Hydrothermal vents host some of the planet's most unique creatures, including animals that exist without sunlight.
From National Geographic • Jul. 13, 2016
Hydrothermal Action, or the Influence of Steam and Gases in producing Metamorphism.
From The Student's Elements of Geology by Lyell, Charles, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
