water tower

noun

a vertical pipe or tower into which water is pumped to a height sufficient to maintain a desired pressure for firefighting, distribution to customers, etc.
a fire-extinguishing apparatus for throwing a stream of water on the upper parts of a tall burning building.

Origin of water tower

First recorded in 1880–85

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for water tower

Historical Examples of water tower

There were a number of cottages, two long, low buildings, and the water-tower.
Roden's Corner
Henry Seton Merriman
I gathered in all the Serviles on charge of Crowd-making, and put 'em in the water-tower, and then I let things cut loose.
A Diversity of Creatures
Rudyard Kipling
A water-tower, for example, was destroyed by sending a railway engine full tilt against it.
The Childrens' Story of the War, Volume 3 (of 10)
James Edward Parrott
Roller and Conrad soon made out, to their great relief, that the water-tower was still standing.
The Young Carpenters of Freiberg
Anonymous
There was a big farm bell hung to a creaking arm in the water-tower beside the old colonial dwelling.
Ruth Fielding At Sunrise Farm
Alice B. Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for water tower

water tower

noun

a reservoir or storage tank mounted on a tower-like structure at the summit of an area of high ground in a place where the water pressure would otherwise be inadequate for distribution at a uniform pressure

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