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

It’s this weird hybrid between an old-school water clock and the mechanical clocks that would be developed in Europe a century or two later.

From Scientific American • Jan. 28, 2022

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 • Oct. 23, 2020

The sundial’s nocturnal counterpart, the water clock, was designed to measure temporal hours at night.

From Scientific American • Dec. 31, 2011

These include two stone terraces that made up part of the famed fountain that fed the water clock and are now on the grounds of Peking University.

From New York Times • Oct. 21, 2010

He makes his voyage too late, perhaps, by a true water clock who delays so long.

From A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Thoreau, Henry David