as in pipe
a long hollow cylinder for carrying a substance (as a liquid or gas)
a penstock carried water for the waterwheel
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Recent Examples of penstock
That plate sealed the opening of the penstock (water delivery tube) and holds back water from the reservoir.
—
Logan Smith, CBS News, 22 Feb. 2026
According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the water agency, the failure involved a 15-foot-diameter section of penstock pipe between a butterfly valve and a concrete thrust block before the pipe extended down a steep hillside to the powerhouse.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 20 Feb. 2026
Water floods down each penstock at 100 cubic metres per second.
—Chris Baraniuk, Wired News, 18 Dec. 2025
Species stocked in Lake Powell for sporting purposes swam the reservoir for decades without creating a clear threat to the river below until the warm surface water sank nearer the hydropower intakes, called penstocks.
—Brandon Loomis, AZCentral.com, 15 Dec. 2025
Brenda Burman, general manager of the Central Arizona Project, presented a diagram showing the dam’s eight large tubes, called penstocks, that water normally passes through, as well as the smaller outlet pipes that enable water releases at low reservoir levels.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
The penstock flows powered the turbines that turned shafts activating the top-side generators.
—Charles R. Morris, WSJ, 21 June 2018
The reservoir can also be lowered by discharges through the dam’s power plant, but one of the two power plant outlets, known as penstocks, was shut down for routine maintenance of turbines.
—Ralph Vartabedian, latimes.com, 10 May 2017
Equipment: An intake gate called a penstock, valves and pressure gauges, turbine, switchgear, inverter, and electronics.
—Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 6 Feb. 2017
Logan Smith, CBS News, 22 Feb. 2026
According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the water agency, the failure involved a 15-foot-diameter section of penstock pipe between a butterfly valve and a concrete thrust block before the pipe extended down a steep hillside to the powerhouse.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 20 Feb. 2026
Water floods down each penstock at 100 cubic metres per second.
—Chris Baraniuk, Wired News, 18 Dec. 2025
Species stocked in Lake Powell for sporting purposes swam the reservoir for decades without creating a clear threat to the river below until the warm surface water sank nearer the hydropower intakes, called penstocks.
—Brandon Loomis, AZCentral.com, 15 Dec. 2025
Brenda Burman, general manager of the Central Arizona Project, presented a diagram showing the dam’s eight large tubes, called penstocks, that water normally passes through, as well as the smaller outlet pipes that enable water releases at low reservoir levels.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
The penstock flows powered the turbines that turned shafts activating the top-side generators.
—Charles R. Morris, WSJ, 21 June 2018
The reservoir can also be lowered by discharges through the dam’s power plant, but one of the two power plant outlets, known as penstocks, was shut down for routine maintenance of turbines.
—Ralph Vartabedian, latimes.com, 10 May 2017
Equipment: An intake gate called a penstock, valves and pressure gauges, turbine, switchgear, inverter, and electronics.
—Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 6 Feb. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for penstock
Noun
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Sometimes, Ramsden and his peers in Mississippi might hop down in the mud to lay irrigation pipe.—
Boyce Upholt,
New Yorker,
14 Mar. 2026
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One of those projects is a pipe replacement in the area of 1st Street and Holmes Street in the River Market.—
Rashad Alexander,
Kansas City Star,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Drawing has always had an important role in the creation of architecture — both as a means for architects to work out their ideas before building and as the conduit between these ideas and the team that realizes them in material form.—
Edward Keegan,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Mar. 2026
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This group is a conduit to their community.—
Tori Mason,
CBS News,
14 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Nearly three million tubes of LIVFRESH have been sold to date with more than 13,000 positive reviews.—
Tory Johnson,
ABC News,
12 Mar. 2026
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That means returning to the motel and removing the feeding tube from her daughter's stomach.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
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South America fractures into a puzzle of fjords and channels at the southernmost tip of the continent, the Brunswick Peninsula, in Chile’s Magallanes Region, where the future park will protect temperate rainforests, shrublands, and vast carbon-capturing peat bogs.—
Mark Johanson,
Outside,
14 Mar. 2026
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Retailers and brands are using analytics and AI to fine-tune discounts and channel strategies rather than implementing across-the-board price hikes.—
Jerry Haar,
Fortune,
14 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Penstock.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penstock. Accessed 19 Mar. 2026.
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