nozzle
Americannoun
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nozzles
plural
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a projecting spout, terminal discharging pipe, or the like, as of a hose or bellows.
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Slang. the nose.
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the spout of a teapot.
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the socket of a candlestick.
noun
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a projecting pipe or spout from which fluid is discharged
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Also called: propelling nozzle. a pipe or duct, esp in a jet engine or rocket, that directs the effluent and accelerates or diffuses the flow to generate thrust
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a socket, such as the part of a candlestick that holds the candle
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of nozzle
Explanation
A nozzle is the spout at the end of a hose that water flows through. Any kind of fluid — oil, gasoline — can move through a tube and squirt out of a nozzle, but we usually think of water in a hose, with the nozzle controlling the spray. The root of nozzle is nose, which — if you use a little imagination — describes the shape of most nozzles.
Vocabulary lists containing nozzle
100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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When You Reach Me
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Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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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.
See Examples For:
They then deposited 1 nanoliter droplets onto a silicon substrate using an inkjet nozzle and allowed them to dry.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
The water arrives at the valley floor under pressure and shoots out of a vertical nozzle like a "massive fountain", says Dr Suryanarayanan Balasubramanian, the founder of Acres of Ice.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
At the pumps, the mood was tense as customers watched the fuel counter tick up, sometimes pulling out the nozzle before the satisfying “ca-chunk” that indicates a full tank.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
Like water spraying through a narrow nozzle, the winds are accelerated as they enter the canyons, often reaching gale-force strength by the time they exit into Los Angeles and San Bernardino.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2024
When we found the rocket, the nozzle was completely worn through.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
The Soviet-era Paks power plant uses the Danube for cooling but the water level is so low that the suction nozzles cannot reach it.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
One is replacing the fuel nozzles to utilize natural gas instead of jet fuel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026
Around it is another ring containing tiny nozzles.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2025
On Wednesday, his office said the state now has more than 200,000 public and shared electric vehicle charging points throughout the state — with nearly 70% more ports than gasoline nozzles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
The air lock was made entirely of stainless steel, and it was lined with nozzles for spraying water and chemicals.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
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.
