geyser

noun

gey·​ser ˈgī-zər 

 British also  ˈgē-zə,

 for sense 1 and usually  for sense 2 ˈgē-zə

1

: a spring that throws forth intermittent jets of heated water and steam

2

British : an apparatus for heating water rapidly with a gas flame (as for a bath)

Did you know?

A hot spring that discharges intermittent jets of steam and water is called a geyser. Geysers are generally associated with recent volcanic activity. They are produced by the heating of underground waters that have come into contact with, or are very close to, magma. Geyser discharges as high as 1,600 ft (500 m) have been recorded, but 160 ft (50 m) is much more common. Occasionally, a geyser will adopt an extremely regular and predictable pattern of intermittent activity and discharge for a few minutes every hour or so (for example, Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park).

Examples of geyser in a Sentence

The water from the geyser rises as high as 75 feet.

geysers rising as high as 75 feet

The water shot into the sky in an enormous geyser.

Recent Examples on the Web

The emerging gas is full of dark dust and shoots up through cracks in the ice similar to a fountain or geyser. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 25 Apr. 2024

Many wells tap heat from geysers or hot springs close to the surface. —IEEE Spectrum, 12 Mar. 2024

The self-driving car company, Waymo, took rounds of outside funding in 2020 and 2021, racking up over $5 billion of cash that didn't come from the Google Ads money geyser. —Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 22 Jan. 2024

Surprisingly, about half of the planet’s geysers are in Yellowstone National Park. —Lea Lane, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

As such, the ocean hasn’t breached through the surface in the form of geysers or visibly altered the moon’s exterior, according to Eos. —Catherine Duncan, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Feb. 2024

El Tatio is the third largest geyser field in the world, with more than 80 geysers and 100-plus fumaroles (spaces where volcanic gas is emitted). —Harrison Pierce, Travel + Leisure, 6 Jan. 2024

Although volcanic eruptions aren’t an everyday occurrence, geysers are one of the visible indicators of Iceland’s volcanic activity hiding just below the surface. —David Nikel, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024

On Earth, these geologically heated geysers support all manner of life miles below the surface; Europa, with its flexing crust, could easily be home to similar processes. —TIME, 12 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Icelandic Geysir, hot spring in Iceland, from geysa to rush forth, from Old Norse; akin to Old English gēotan to pour — more at found

First Known Use

1780, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

geyser

noun

gey·​ser ˈgī-zər 

: a spring that now and then shoots out hot water and steam

Etymology

from Icelandic Geyser "a hot spring in Iceland," from geysa "to rush forth"