water wheel

Noun

water wheel (plural water wheels)

1. A wheel, propelled by running or falling water, used to power machinery.
   • "Yes, yes, I'll tell you the road directly, it's it's straight on through the wood till you come to the big water-wheel!"1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 278
   • Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist, archived from the original on 07 Sep 2013
2. A wheel with buckets used to raise water.

   Synonyms:

   noria