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
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
So depending on the contents, you could have a pump, a squeeze top, spray nozzle, screw top lid or other options.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2025
It took me three hours to force the hose onto the pump nozzle, but I couldn’t cinch it up securely.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2025
How about we countersink the nozzle, one side or the other or both?
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
Plant officials said that levels in the Danube were so low that the suction nozzles used to take in water could not reach it.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Combined, that’s 68% more EV chargers than gasoline nozzles in the state.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026
In the pitch black of the mine, mud-splattered men with headlamps drill into the rock in two-man teams, using hydro drills with long, thin nozzles that shoot out pressurized water to loosen the ore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
He adds that he saves on pesticide spray since the nozzles only turn on when weeds are detected, as opposed to the kind of blanket spraying he used to do.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026
He just stood there, arms loose by his side, the nozzles of our drip torches gazing at each other.
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
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.
