turbine
Americannoun
noun
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Any of various machines in which the kinetic energy of a moving fluid, such as water, steam, or gas, is converted to rotary motion. Turbines are used in boat propulsion systems, hydroelectric power generators, and jet aircraft engines.
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See also gas turbine
Etymology
Origin of turbine
1815–25; < French < Latin turbin-, stem of turbō something that spins, e.g., top, spindle, whirlwind; akin to turbid
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.
She had recently put up a new chicken shed and wind turbine - diversification projects she believed would not have been possible had a stricter planning regime been in place.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
The costs for development of offshore turbine farms now look too high to be worth continuing, TotalEnergies said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
"In the beginning, it was a shipyard. We built a good dozen ships a year. Now we build dozens of wind turbine towers. It's quite different," she said.
From Barron's • Mar. 7, 2026
With a steady hand, she manoeuvred a huge wind turbine section, five metres in diameter, across the yard.
From Barron's • Mar. 7, 2026
Off the agency’s long hallways are laboratories filled with airplane wreckage: a mangled piece of an engine turbine, a problematic piece of a helicopter rotor.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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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.