Definition of GEYSER

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

Ear Spring isn’t the first dormant geyser to come to life this year. — Fox News, "Long-dormant Yellowstone hot spring erupts," 22 Sep. 2018 Rosetta captured this moment as dramatic geysers shot out from the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko—the first close observations of this phenomenon. — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "The Rosetta Comet-Chaser's Insanely Delicate Approach, Explained," 23 Dec. 2016 The film implies that seismic geopolitical changes take a physical toll on the bodies of the marginalized, one that manifests onscreen in the bone-cracking agony of dance and ultimately erupts in geysers of blood. — Aja Romano, Vox, "How Suspiria turns the color red into a plot point," 9 Nov. 2018 Back in 2014, the Hubble Space Telescope captured something astonishing on Europa, one of Jupiter’s biggest moons: a massive geyser-like plume that appeared to spurt from the moon’s icy crust. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "A New Look at Old Data Suggests Europa Shoots Watery Plumes Into Space," 14 May 2018 Two seasonal park workers were fired after being caught on a webcam urinating on the geyser in 2009. — Mead Gruver, The Seattle Times, "Man who walked near boiling-hot Old Faithful geyser ticketed," 17 Sep. 2018 As long as geysers are treated like garbage cans there remains the possibility of a trash eruption. — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, "Heavily Littered Yellowstone Geyser Spews Tons of Trash Into Air During Eruption," 5 Oct. 2018 If confirmed, these icy geysers would provide a sample of the subsurface ocean. — Amina Khan, latimes.com, "Strange readings from a dead spacecraft reveal new evidence of water on Europa," 15 May 2018 Ear Spring geyser, located in Yellowstone National Park, had long been engorged by years of trash left inside of it by ill-mannered tourists. — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, "Heavily Littered Yellowstone Geyser Spews Tons of Trash Into Air During Eruption," 5 Oct. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'geyser.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.