turbine

n. engine powered by a rotor revolving by means of the force of moving liquid exerted on the vanes of the rotor (fluids commonly used are water, steam, and air)

A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow. Claude Burdin (1788-1873) coined the term from the Latin turbinis, or vortex during an 1828 engineering competition. Benoit Fourneyron (1802-1867), a student of Claude Burdin, built the first practical water turbine. The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they rotate and impart energy to the rotor. Early turbine examples are windmills and water wheels.Gas, steam, and water turbines usually have a casing around the blades that focuses and controls the fluid. The casing and blades may have variable geometry that allows efficient operation for a range of fluid-flow conditions. A device similar to a turbine but operating in reverse is a compressor or pump. The axial compressor in many gas turbine engines is a common example.
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Noun
1. rotary engine in which the kinetic energy of a moving fluid is converted into mechanical energy by causing a bladed rotor to rotate
(hypernym) rotary engine
(hyponym) gas turbine
(part-meronym) blade, vane

n. turbine, engine powered by a rotor that revolves by means of force exerted on it by fluid usually by means of vanes which are part of the rotor (common fluids involved include water, steam, and air)

n. turbine, engine powered by a rotor revolving by means of the force of moving liquid exerted on the vanes of the rotor (fluids commonly used are water, steam, and air)