First recorded in 1795–1805
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Its original milling machinery was later adapted for operation by steam power and the 19th Century vertical steam boiler and chimney have survived.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2021
If this happens, you need to immediately shove a milk carafe under the steam wand to catch the resulting superheated water as it empties the steam boiler.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2021
The dedicated and powerful steam boiler means you can have steam and hot water ready to go right after pulling your shots.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2021
A good example of the latter is the steam boiler explosion commission, appointed by Congress to investigate such accidents and discussed in Scientific American's issue of March 23, 1878.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 24, 2020
Constructed out of a forty-foot-long cylindrical steam boiler, the Hunley was designed for an eight-man crew—seven to turn the hand-cranked propeller and a commander to control the steering and the depth.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
His early patents bore the marks of his experience working on trains: more-efficient steam-boiler furnaces, improved braking systems, electrical regulators and a combined telegraph-and-telephone communication device.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
The stove was dying out, and the steam-boiler cold.
From Clayhanger by Bennett, Arnold
You can paint the inside of a cistern or a bath-tub with it, and water won't hurt it; and you can paint a steam-boiler with it, and heat won't.
From The Rise of Silas Lapham by Howells, William Dean
The rolling mill must have come, not only before the modern steam-boiler, but even before the modern plow could be made.
From Steam, Steel and Electricity by Steele, James W.
A steam-boiler had been obtained, and preparations had been made to build other houses.
From History of American Socialisms by Noyes, John Humphrey
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.
