waterwheel

or wa·ter wheel

[ waw-ter-hweel, -weel, wot-er- ]

noun

1. a wheel or turbine turned by the weight or momentum of water and used to operate machinery.
2. a wheel with buckets for raising or drawing water, as a noria.
3. the paddle wheel of a steamboat.

Word History and Origins

Origin of waterwheel¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; water, wheel

Example Sentences

She included a waterwheel as a backup power source, because in Mobile, she explains, “you can never tell with the weather.”

From Science News For Students

Ceramic pipes were made to carry water from the spring to a waterwheel.

From Project Gutenberg

They are as swift as a waterwheel, each of them past another, one of them to the King's room, the other to the fire.

From Project Gutenberg

The whole was moved by an overshot waterwheel placed at the Bellevue dock.

From Project Gutenberg

The little buckets on the waterwheel keep an almost endless stream flowing into the irrigation ditch.

From Project Gutenberg

The next morning the girl heard the noise of the waterwheel, and she opened the lattice and looked out of the window.

From Project Gutenberg