water glass
- noun
- Specialized
:
vidrio de nivel
- During the maintenance check, we observed the water glass to ensure it was functioning properly.
Examples
-
Time allows us to watch the p36 water glass and see whether it is filling or emptying.
Fiction book (1992) -
Loud talk, and every few minutes, ping-ping-ping: a knife tapped on a water glass, someone giving a toast.
Fiction book (1994) -
It was sunny when she'd driven to the house, but now the sky was beginning to cloud over, just swirls of cloud, milk drops in a water glass.
Fiction book (1998) -
The engineer installed a water glass to monitor the water levels in the boiler.
-
As the water glass filled up, the gauge indicated that more water was being added.
Synonyms
45
3.9
A device that shows how much or how full something is, like a fuel meter
1
2.9
A tool that uses water in a clear tube to show surface height
A device that shows the level of water in a tank, boiler, or reservoir
A device that shows how much water is in a tank or boiler
A tool that measures things like rain or pressure
How Complex
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents 'water' (liquid) and 'glass' (drinking vessel) transparently yield the sense 'a glass for water', but they do not indicate the specialized function of measuring time (a clepsydra). A B1 learner who knows the words would not predict the timekeeping meaning from the parts alone, so the expression is idiomatic in that sense.
Etymology
Water glass as a gauge comes from a small clear glass window that shows the level of 'water' in a tank, so because you can see the water through the glass the name came to mean the level indicator.