Meanings
plural hydrants
- An outlet from a liquid/fluid main often consisting of an upright pipe with a valve attached from which fluid (e.g. water or fuel) can be tapped.
A horde of dirty children play about the dripping hydrant, the only thing in the alley that thinks enough of its chance to make the most of it: it is the best it can do.
1890, Jacob A[ugust] Riis, “The Down Town Back-alleys”, in How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 30
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna faucet for drawing water from a pipe or cask
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
An irregular formation: hydr- + -ant, originally US English. By surface analysis, hydrate + -ant.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech hydrant
- hydrantoutlet from a liquid/fluid main often consisting of an upright pipe with a valve attached from which fluid (e.g. water or fuel) can be tapped
Hungarian tűzcsap
- tűzcsapoutlet from a liquid/fluid main often consisting of an upright pipe with a valve attached from which fluid (e.g. water or fuel) can be tapped
Portuguese hidrante
- hidranteoutlet from a liquid/fluid main often consisting of an upright pipe with a valve attached from which fluid (e.g. water or fuel) can be tapped
Spanish hidrante
- hidranteoutlet from a liquid/fluid main often consisting of an upright pipe with a valve attached from which fluid (e.g. water or fuel) can be tapped
Cite this entry
hydrant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hydrant
“hydrant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hydrant. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hydrant,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hydrant.
Source: hydrant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.