water leveln.
/ˈwɔːtə ˌlɛvl/, U.S. /ˈwɔdər ˌlɛvəl/, /ˈwɑdər ˌlɛvəl/ 1. The height or level reached by the surface of a column or body of water. Also: the water surface itself.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > body of water > still or standing water > [noun] > surface of
water level?a1560
?a1560 L. Digges Geom. Pract.: Pantometria (1571) i. xxxii. sig. K.i.v The water leuell, that is to saye, the hyghest poyncte that any water will naturally runne at, beeinge conueyed by pype.
1738 J. Breval Remarks Several Parts Europe: Tours since 1723 I. 82 What a Distance there is between the Top of the circumambient Hills and the Water-Level of the Lake.
1756 Philos. Trans. 1755 (Royal Soc.) 49 355 The highest part of the walk..is about 20 inches above the water-level.
1860 M. F. Maury Physical Geogr. Sea (ed. 8) xii. 297 Thus we might have a sea whose level would be much further below the water-level of the ocean, than is the Dead Sea.
1862 S. Smiles Lives Engineers III. iii. 26 When the water-level in the pit was lowered, and the suction became incomplete [etc.].
1895 J. J. Raven Hist. Suffolk 39 The salting mound just above the present average water-level in Herringfleet.
1917 L. Einstein Inside Constantinople v. 212 The crew..succeeded in raising the stern [of the submarine] to the water-level, whence all scrambled out.
1976 B. Gaddis How to repair Home Laundry Appliances vi. 159 Many machines have a variable control to select the water level.
2009 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 7 Oct. e3/4 The base of the house acts as a raft, allowing the home to rise on guide posts..as water levels rise.
2. A tool or instrument working on the principle of the spirit level, in which water, typically in a straight tube or the arms of a U-tube, is used to indicate amount of tilt. Cf. level n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for marking out work > [noun] > level
level1340
water level1563
leveller1693
spirit level1718
pendulum level1728
bubble level1814
Y level1845
striding level1878
1563 J. Shute First Groundes Archit. sig. Biiv Geometrie teacheth vs the order of rules, Compasses, Squiers, Quadrantes, and Iuste water~leueles with manie other knowlaiges.
1674 R. Hooke Animadversions Machina Cœlestis 61 This is done by the help of a Water-Level.
1723 E. Stone tr. N. Bion Constr. & Principal Uses Math. Instruments v. i. 134 The first of these Instruments is a Water Level, composed of a round Tube of Brass, or other solid Matter, about 3 Feet long.
1815 tr. C. S. de M. de Martemont Treat. Topogr. II. iii. 61 With the Water-level, a very straight rectangular staff..called a Levelling-staff, is used.
1880 L. d'A. Jackson Aid Surv.-pract. 146 The water level..is also an appliance for rough levelling within short distances.
1932 Geogr. Jrnl. 79 400 They pegged out their contours with a water-level and chain-surveyed them.
2002 R. D. Treloar Plumbing: Heating & Gas Installations (ed. 2) vii. 306 This process is done by a site surveyor,..using a water level.
3. Mining. A passage or level (level n. 7) excavated almost horizontally to allow the drainage of water. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > drain or channel for carrying off water
soughc1619
water level1698
yeo1725
plug box1883
1698 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 20 368 It is only a Spring which rises in a Coal-Drift (or Water-Level made for the draining of the Cannel Coal-Pits).
1777 R. E. Raspe tr. I. von Born Trav. Bannat of Temeswar 317 The Chief-mine..consists of Lawrence, Charles, Michel and Nichols, which are drained by S. John's gallery or the deepest water-level.
1836 Hull & Selby Rlwy. Act 43 Airways, headways, gateways, or water-levels through the mines.
1958 P. D. Snavely et al. Geol. & Coal Resources Centralia-Chehalis District, Washington (Geol. Surv. Bull. 1053) 105 In the smaller mines coal has been mined from ‘water levels’, or self-draining tunnels.
4. Mining and Geology. = water table n. 4. Frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > [noun] > water table
water plane1719
water level?1794
water table1823
waterline1829
?1794 Trans. Royal Irish Acad. 5 269 This level effectually drained about three hundred yards in length,..water level course, in this seam.
1809 Tradesman 1 July 8 In this depth are reckoned twenty different beds of coal..[which] all have their water level course or direction from north to south; and their inclination or dip is to the west.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 960 To whatever depth a coal-mine is drained of its water, from that depth it is worked, up to the rise of the water-level line.
1882 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. iii. ii. ii. §2. 345 In most districts rocks are permeated with water below a certain limit termed the water-level.
1949 I. F. Wilson & V. S. Rocha Geol. Surv. Bull. 962-A 38 The higher beds lie above the water level.
1998 K. Kenny Making Sense Molly Maguires ii. 58 Coal lay only above the water level.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.?a1560