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
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
River water entered the powerhouse and fell down a system of 140-foot vertical pipes, called penstocks, one for each generator.
—Charles R. Morris, WSJ, 21 June 2018
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
Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
River water entered the powerhouse and fell down a system of 140-foot vertical pipes, called penstocks, one for each generator.
—Charles R. Morris, WSJ, 21 June 2018
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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Dams, straightening, dredging, channelizing, and an unseen network of pipes and drains and overflow tunnels have nearly eliminated the river’s likelihood of overflowing its banks and destroying businesses downtown.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
10 Aug. 2025
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Plus, all that hair can run down your drain, clogging pipes.—
Melissa Locker,
Southern Living,
8 Aug. 2025
Noun
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This is before Doom sends Franklin to hell and uses his goddaughter Valeria as a magical conduit.—
Kambole Campbell,
Vulture,
28 July 2025
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The tool did a superb job of cutting the plastic electrical conduit.—
Tim Carter,
Hartford Courant,
5 July 2025
Noun
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An allied invention was the forming tube that compressed the yarns as the strand was made.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Aug. 2025
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There's a channel that runs down the bottom of the down tube that the cables sit in, held in place by a plastic cover that's screwed onto the frame.—
JOHN TIMMER,
ArsTechnica,
12 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The video can be found on the Sheriff’s Office’s YouTube channel.—
Teri Figueroa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 Aug. 2025
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Where to watch 'New Heights' podcast New episodes drop on the podcast's YouTube channel, and can be listened to through Spotify and Apple Podcasts.—
Haadiza Ogwude,
The Enquirer,
12 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Penstock.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penstock. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
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