turbine

[ tur-bin, -bahyn ]

/ ˈtɜr bɪn, -baɪn /

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noun

any of various machines having a rotor, usually with vanes or blades, driven by the pressure, momentum, or reactive thrust of a moving fluid, as steam, water, hot gases, or air, either occurring in the form of free jets or as a fluid passing through and entirely filling a housing around the rotor.

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Compare impulse turbine, reaction turbine.

Origin of turbine

1815–25; <French <Latin turbin-, stem of turbō something that spins, e.g., top, spindle, whirlwind; akin to turbid

Words nearby turbine

turbidity, turbidity current, turbinal, turbinate, turbinate bone, turbine, turbine blade, turbinectomy, turbine ventilator, turbinotomy, turbit

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use turbine in a sentence

At a length of 107 meters, each turbine blade is longer than a professional soccer pitch.
The world’s largest wind farm is truly enormous, and it’s one step closer to reality|kdunn6|November 26, 2020|Fortune
Wind turbines in particular, despite the president’s claim, are a very safe form of clean energy.
Science was a big winner—and loser—at this week’s presidential debate|Sara Chodosh|October 23, 2020|Popular-Science
That turbine harvests that energy, and some of that energy then fuels the low-pressure turbine, which powers the fan in the front.
The world’s biggest jet engine, explained|Rob Verger|October 14, 2020|Popular-Science
The turbines would cost customers $300 million and generate 12 megawatts of electricity, enough to power only 3,000 homes with sustained winds.
Inside the Utility Company Lobbying Blitz That Will Hike Electric Bills|by Patrick Wilson, Richmond Times-Dispatch|October 9, 2020|ProPublica

If it all works out, the new turbines could produce as much as 33 percent more power and become practical in more places.
GE Will 3D Print the Bases of Wind Turbines Taller Than Seattle’s Space Needle|Jason Dorrier|June 21, 2020|Singularity Hub
What if a wind turbine could help make an oil rig work more efficiently?
Renewables Can Make Fossil Fuel More Efficient|The Daily Beast|May 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The title was On the Whirlwind During the Night of June 11– 12 (Sopra il turbine che la notte tra gli XI e XII giugno).
Benjamin Franklin, America’s First Storm Chaser|Lee Sandlin|April 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But he found work at Energetx, a wind turbine manufacturer in Michigan.
Now the Bad Bits|David Frum|January 25, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Similar incentives convinced Siemens to expand its wind turbine factory in Fort Madison Iowa.
A CEO’s Defense of Government|R.M. Schneiderman|June 20, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Unfortunately for Crist, it will likely take a turbine engine to generate enough wind in his flagging sails to overtake Rubio.
Charlie Crist's Last Gasp|Jim DeFede|October 20, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The main condensers, with their circulating pumps and air pumps, were placed in the turbine room.
Loss of the Steamship 'Titanic'|British Government
The remainder of the auxiliary pumps were placed in the reciprocating and turbine engine rooms.
Loss of the Steamship 'Titanic'|British Government
The turbine is constructed on an axle made of a hatpin which runs through the top of the standards for bearings.
The Boy Mechanic, Book 2|Various
The impact of the escaping steam on the air sets the globe revolving, and the principle of the turbine engine at work is clear.
Education: How Old The New|James J. Walsh
The main fact about the modern man as regards poetry is, that he prefers poetry that has this reserved turbine-wheel trait in it.
The Voice of the Machines|Gerald Stanley Lee

British Dictionary definitions for turbine

turbine

/ (ˈtɜːbɪn, -baɪn) /

noun

any of various types of machine in which the kinetic energy of a moving fluid is converted into mechanical energy by causing a bladed rotor to rotate. The moving fluid may be water, steam, air, or combustion products of a fuelSee also reaction turbine, impulse turbine, gas turbine

Word Origin for turbine

C19: from French, from Latin turbō whirlwind, from turbāre to throw into confusion

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

Scientific definitions for turbine

turbine

[ tûr′bĭn, -bīn′ ]

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. See also gas turbine.

turbine

Origin of turbine

Words nearby turbine

Words related to turbine

How to use turbine in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for turbine

Word Origin for turbine

Scientific definitions for turbine