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Glite Dictionary
hydrant

hydrant

42 3.4
A pipe with a tap that gives water for firefighters to attach hoses
  • noun
  • /ˈhaɪdrənt/
translation icon : hidrante
  • Firefighters quickly connected their hoses to the nearest hydrant to extinguish the blaze.
  • fire hydrant
  • valve for a hydrant

It's just a a hydrant in the front of the yard.

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Examples

  • There's a fire hydrant right here.

    Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2012)

  • A couple of derelicts are cowering behind a fire hydrant, trying to avoid getting run over.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • OK, so this is where our hydrant is going right here, right there.

  • It's more like parking in front of a fire hydrant.

    Problemista (2024)

  • Michael used police privilege to block the hydrant in front of the hotel.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Someone had opened a hydrant, and a lot of the kids were in bathing suits.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • We need fire hydrants to fight fires.

  • Victor crawled out the door, took hold of a fire hydrant, and hoisted himself to his feet.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Wallace pulls the car in front of a fire hydrant and tosses the police tag on the dash.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The dog sniffs at a hydrant and a couple of garbage cans, but isn't doing her business.

    Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

fire hydrant
vshydrant
15 2.1

A tall pipe in the street with a tap for firefighters to get water

is the general device that draws water from mains for fighting fires
fireplug
vshydrant
  • Archaic
2 6.2

A short pipe in the street where firefighters connect hoses to get water

is the same general water outlet but without the short or street detail

Compounds

fire hydrant
15 2.1

A tall pipe in the street with a tap for firefighters to get water

Surface Forms

hydrant singular
hydrants plural

Morphology

hydrant = hydr + ant

The combining form 'hydr-' signals 'water' but is not a standalone English word, and the suffix '-ant' indicates an agent/device in a way that may not be fully obvious to learners, so the overall relation is partly inferable but not fully transparent.

Etymology

Hydrant comes from the Greek root hydor meaning 'water' and shares that root with the everyday word hydrate. So a hydrant is simply a pipe or outlet for water, which is why firefighters attach their hoses to it.