Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

penstock

[pen-stok]
See more synonyms for penstock on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a pipe conducting water from a head gate to a waterwheel.
  2. a conduit for conveying water to a power plant.
  3. a sluicelike contrivance used to control the flow of water.
Show More

Origin of penstock

First recorded in 1600–10; pen2 + stock
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for penstock

Historical Examples

  • And that's where you will go back and back and back, as you said about building the penstock?

    Spacehounds of IPC

    Edward Elmer Smith

  • It is from this flume that the penstock draws water for the wheel.

    Electricity for the farm

    Frederick Irving Anderson

  • But the guest grabbed the penstock while it was still vibrating.

  • Outside should be a penstock, to carry off the superfluous water.

    Hints on cheese-making

    Thomas Day Curtis

  • This is a type of wheel mounted on the lower end of a vertical or horizontal shaft, within, or at the bottom, of a penstock.

    Motors

    James Slough Zerbe

British Dictionary definitions for penstock

penstock

noun
  1. a conduit that supplies water to a hydroelectric power plant
  2. a channel bringing water from the head gates to a water wheel
  3. a sluice for controlling water flow
Show More

Word Origin

C17: from pen ² + stock
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
penstock in Science

penstock

[pĕn′stŏk′]
  1. A sluice or gate used to control a flow of water.
  2. A pipe or conduit used to carry water to a water wheel or turbine.
Show More
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.