drinking fountain
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What is a drinking fountain? A drinking fountain is a device that ejects a fountainlike stream of water that can be drunk from without a cup. Drinking fountains are often for public use—they provide access to drinking water in places like government buildings, schools, and parks. There are many different designs for drinking fountains, but they all generally work by ejecting a jet of water that can be drunk from directly. Drinking fountains are also commonly called water fountains, which should not be confused with the kind of fountain that’s mainly for decoration, such as in city plazas, though of course such fountains also use water (but not for drinking). Example: Why would I buy a bottle of water from the vending machine when I could just fill up my water bottle for free from the drinking fountain?
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of drinking fountain
First recorded in 1855–60
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.
I asked for water and the bartender pointed me toward a drinking fountain and some plastic cups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
Entering an office for then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Beddingfield washed his eyes in a drinking fountain before he left the building.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 11, 2023
I grimace and bend at a drinking fountain.
From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2022
Then it was the sight of twisted steel beams and a lone pipe, jutting up from the rubble, gently spilling water like a drinking fountain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2020
A murmur of voices reached him and he quickly stepped into an alcove, squatting beside a drinking fountain as two men and a woman walked past, all wearing white coats, arguing about Web servers.
From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz
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.
