turbine

plural turbines

1. Any of various rotary machines that use the kinetic energy of a continuous stream of fluid (a liquid or a gas) to turn a shaft.

   Upstream from the house is a watermill, cased in gleaming white weather-boarding, which has been restored to working order. Near by is the water-driven turbine which [Rudyard] Kipling had installed in 1902 to light his mansion with electricity.

   1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 98

   1 more example

   Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work. […] Through the efforts of many thousands of engineers in the intervening 70 years or so, such gas turbines have come to dominate aircraft propulsion and, with their now-unmatched thermal efficiency and low cost, are the superstars of electric power plants.

   2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine]”, in American Scientist, archived from the original on 07 Sep 2013