WordofTheDay.US

geyser

/ˈɡiː.zə/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about geyser at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. A boiling natural spring which throws forth jets of water, mud, etc., at frequent intervals, driven upwards by the expansive power of steam.
  2. A momentary vertical jet or fountain of fluid driven upwards by a violent force.
  3. An instantaneous, and often dangerous, hot water heater.

verb

  1. To (cause to) rush or burst upward like water from a geyser.

Origin

From Icelandic Geysir (“Gusher”), the Icelandic name of a particular hot spring in Iceland (see Wikipedia), from the verb geysa (“to gush”), from Old Norse geysa (“to gush”), which is mentioned in English as early as the 1760s in The Annual Register, as “Geyser, a wonderful spring in the valley of Haukadal”. Doublet of gusher

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)