geyser

[gahy-zer, -ser for 1, 3; gee-zer for 2]

See more synonyms for geyser on Thesaurus.com

noun

a hot spring that intermittently sends up fountainlike jets of water and steam into the air.
British Informal. a hot-water heater, as for a bath.

verb (used without object)

to spew forth as or like a geyser: the kettle geysering all over the stove.

Origin of geyser

1755–65; < Icelandic Geysir name of a hot spring in Iceland, literally, gusher, derivative of geysa to gush

Related formsgey·ser·al, gey·ser·ic, adjective

Can be confusedcaldera fumarole geyser volcano

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for geyser

gusher, spout, jet

Examples from the Web for geyser

Contemporary Examples of geyser

This prompts Sarah Lynn to stab herself with a Confederate bayonet letter-opener, causing a geyser of blood.
'BoJack Horseman': The Debauched Tales of a Drunken, Groupie-Sexing D-List Horse, Hits Netflix
Marlow Stern
August 22, 2014

Historical Examples of geyser

The thought set the geyser of his rage roaring and spouting in the face of heaven.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
Hell's Half-Acre was a prelude to ten or twelve miles of geyser formation.
American Notes
Rudyard Kipling
Should be one another, and not one of them is properly a geyser.
The Verbalist
Thomas Embly Osmun, (AKA Alfred Ayres)
One day the ash will get into the burners and then the geyser will explode.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, March 31, 1920
Various
Toward the geyser hurried Frank, still looking for his companion.
Frank Merriwell's Bravery
Burt L. Standish

British Dictionary definitions for geyser

geyser

noun

a spring that discharges steam and hot water
British a domestic gas water heater

Word Origin for geyser

C18: from Icelandic Geysir, from Old Norse geysa to gush

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for geyser

1780, from Icelandic Geysir, name of a hot spring in the valley of Haukadal, literally "the gusher," from Old Norse geysa "to gush," from Proto-Germanic *gausjan, from PIE *gheus-, from root *gheu- "to pour" (see found (v.2)).

geyser in Science

geyser

[gī′zər]

A natural hot spring that regularly ejects a spray of steam and boiling water into the air.