water clock

American  

noun

1. a device, as a clepsydra, for measuring time by the flow of water.

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water clock British  

noun

1. any of various devices for measuring time that use the escape of water as the motive force

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Etymology

Origin of water clock

First recorded in 1595–1605

Example Sentences

The oldest surviving water clocks were found in Egypt and Babylon, and the earliest of these date to around 1500 B.C.E.

From Scientific American

Rocky comes to know his land through the “water clock” he keeps, knowing what time of the year it is by water’s presence or absence.

From Los Angeles Times

As you start to get things such as water clocks, that’s something that individual people can use to time things.

From Scientific American

They did not have mechanical clocks, but they had sundials and water clocks.

From Literature

On the left side the Dutch physicist Christian Huyghens is depicted demonstrating the first pendulum clock, which he invented in 1656, and on the right side there is a Roman senator holding a water clock.

From BBC