waterspout
/ˈwɔtɚ spaʊt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.98 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A whirlwind that forms over water, not associated with a mesocyclone of a thunderstorm (contrary to a true tornado).
noun
A true tornado that passes over a body of water.
noun
A plume of water rising from the surface of a body of water as the result of an explosion or impact.
noun
A channel through which water is discharged, especially from the gutters of a roof; downspout; drainpipe.
Example Sentences
- "Basically, the problem was actually the British had too many ships! The Grand Fleet wasn't half bad with its gunnery, but there was so many battleships throwing fire at the battlecruisers and battleships of the High Seas Fleet that it was actually very difficult to tell "Is that splash from us? Is that splash from that ship? Is that splash from a ship in another division? We don't know!", so a lot of incorrect estimates and measures were taken, which lead to an awful lot of waterspouts going up, but not anywhere near the number of hits that you would otherwise expect[…]"
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɔtɚ spaʊt/
- British English: /ˈwɔːtə spaʊt/