penstock

English

Etymology

Perhaps from pen (“an enclosure”) + stock.

Noun

penstock (plural penstocks)

1. A sluice or pipe which allows the controlled flow of water from behind a dam, typically routing it to a turbine of a power plant.
   • 2017, Fiona Farrell, Decline and Fall on Savage Street, →ISBN, page 30:

     It amazes him still, this effortless journey powered by the fall of water. Water surging through tunnel and penstock.

2. The barrel of a wooden pump.

Alternative forms

• pentstock

Translations

sluice or pipe

• Arabic: بربخ - أنبوب مفرِّغ
• Bulgarian: шлюз (bg) m (šljuz)
• Finnish: tulokanava
• French: conduite forcée f
• German: Druckrohrleitung f

barrel of wooden pump

Anagrams

• topnecks