geyser

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

/ ˈgaɪ zər, -sər for 1, 3; ˈgi zər 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.

RELATED WORDS

gusher, spout, jet

Nearby words

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
But there were no geyser baths there and I had no rheumatism then!
Margarita's Soul|Ingraham Lovell
The hot volcanic rocks beneath the earth create steam and give the geyser force.
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks|Union Pacific Corporation
An itinerant lecturer upon an unpopular cause has enough hot water without seeking out a geyser.
The Wanderings of a Spiritualist|Arthur Conan Doyle

They let the problem sink in, and the answer is shot up presently, like the cooked pudding in the geyser.
Psychical Miscellanea|J. Arthur Hill
The time she wrote her name upon the geyser will always remain the great event in Maw's life.
Maw's Vacation|Emerson Hough

British Dictionary definitions for geyser

geyser

/ (ˈɡiːzə, US ˈɡaɪzər) /

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

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)).

Science definitions for geyser

geyser

[ gī′zər ]

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