hydraulics
Americannoun
noun
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The scientific study of water and other liquids, in particular their behavior under the influence of mechanical forces and their related uses in engineering.
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A mechanical device or system using hydraulic components.
Etymology
Origin of hydraulics
Explanation
Hydraulics is the science of the way fluids move. It's the branch of physics and engineering that focuses on the mechanics of liquids. If you want to be a civil engineer, you should probably learn about hydraulics. If you decide to study hydraulics, you'll learn about how fluids like water and oil are used in mechanical tasks. You might read up on hydraulic jacks, which can lift cars using oil that's forced into a cylinder using a kind of pump; or hydraulic fracturing, also known as "fracking," which uses a liquid under pressure to fracture rock and extract oil or gas. Hydraulics comes from the Greek hydraulikos, or "water organ," an ancient musical instrument.
Vocabulary lists containing hydraulics
Engineering - Introductory
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Mechanical Engineering
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Engineering - Middle School
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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.
It also opens the door to new ways of controlling liquids in applications ranging from hydraulics and 3D printing to blood flow in the body.
From Science Daily • Mar. 30, 2026
Eaton divested its lighting and hydraulics businesses in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
From Barron's • Jan. 26, 2026
But despite its water-sensitive glues and exposed hydraulics, the seahorse completed its route intact.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 3, 2026
One of the DC-10 passenger plane’s engines fell off during takeoff, damaging hydraulics and causing the crew to lose control of the plane.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025
She probably would not have read this treatise on the hydraulics of Versailles by an eighteenth-century Dane who extolled in Latin the genius of Le Notre.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
