tailrace

American  

[teyl-reys] / ˈteɪlˌreɪs /

noun

1. the race, flume, or channel leading away from a waterwheel or the like.

2. Mining. the channel for conducting tailings or refuse away in water.

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tailrace British  

/ ˈteɪlˌreɪs /

noun

1. a channel that carries water away from a water wheel, turbine, etc Compare headrace

2. mining the channel for removing tailings in water

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Etymology

Origin of tailrace

First recorded in 1770–80; tail ¹ + race ¹

Example Sentences

The John Day dam is the worst, with on average 65 days each summer in which the river exceeds 68 degrees, measured in waters just below the dam, known as the tailrace.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 31, 2019

It sits astride the Columbia River, which loses as much as 70 feet of elevation as it falls through the building’s turbines and emerges, almost glass-smooth, in the powerhouse’s tailrace.

From Forbes • Oct. 20, 2011

That year James W. Marshall, a wheelwright, discovered gold in the tailrace of James Augustus Suiter's sawmill at Coloma.

From Time Magazine Archive

The object of the race is to secure the required head by carrying a portion of the available water to a point where it can escape, by a fall of say 30° to the tailrace.

From Electricity for the farm Light, heat and power by inexpensive methods from the water wheel or farm engine by Anderson, Frederick Irving

The tailrace should be provided with enough fall to carry the escaping water back to the main stream, without backing up on the wheel itself and thus cutting down the head.

From Electricity for the farm Light, heat and power by inexpensive methods from the water wheel or farm engine by Anderson, Frederick Irving