water engine
noun1
Archaic An engine moved by water.
- Near-synonym: watermill
- In those days, grist mills were powered by water engines, wind engines, or horse engines.
2
Archaic An engine to raise water, often for mine drainage.
- Near-synonym: water pump
- In the earliest years after James Watt developed his steam engine, most of the capital that bought his engines came from mine owners who used them to power water engines for mine drainage.
3
Archaic A machine for extinguishing fires with water.
- Near-synonym: fire engine (synonymous in the pre–motor-truck era)
- In 1887, several businesses in this town pooled the funds necessary to buy a state-of-the-art water engine and a large new set of leather buckets for the bucket brigade.
- Related terms
- water power, waterpower