Meanings
plural penstocks · alternative pentstock
- 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.
It amazes him still, this effortless journey powered by the fall of water. Water surging through tunnel and penstock.
2017, Fiona Farrell, Decline and Fall on Savage Street, →ISBN, page 30
Synonyms & antonyms
nounregulator consisting of a valve or gate that controls the rate of water flow through a sluice
nounconduit that carries a rapid flow of water controlled by a sluicegate
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Perhaps from pen (“an enclosure”) + stock.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic بربخ - أنبوب مفرِّغ
- بربخ - أنبوب مفرِّغsluice or pipe
Bulgarian шлюз
- шлюз (šljuz)sluice or pipe
Finnish tulokanava
- tulokanavasluice or pipe
French conduite forcée
- conduite forcéesluice or pipe
German Druckrohrleitung
- Druckrohrleitungsluice or pipe
Cite this entry
penstock. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penstock
“penstock.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penstock. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “penstock,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penstock.
Source: penstock on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.