divining rod
2
8.6
- noun
- /dɪˈvaɪnɪŋ rɑd/
:
vara de zahorí
- Is there anything to drink in this place or do I have to go to my car and get my divining rod?
- divining rod to find
And for some reason I have a memory of a dude with a divining rod coming to see if there was water underneath this land.
- And for some reason I have a memory of a dude with a divining rod coming to see if there was water underneath this land.
- That is your, you know, I wish we had these divining rod to find water.
Examples
-
And for some reason I have a memory of a dude with a divining rod coming to see if there was water underneath this land.
-
"She held out one hand like a divining rod.
Fiction book (1996) -
Let me see that divining rod a second.
-
Give me that divining rod right now.
-
My rod tip waggles like a divining rod.
Blog text (16) -
He is fully wrapped in robes, and a divining rod, or lituus—identified by its characteristic curved end—rests on his right shoulder.
Academic text (2008) -
The old man walked through the woods with his divining rod, searching for a hidden water source.
-
Using a divining rod, she was able to locate a natural spring beneath the dry ground.
-
Many believe that a divining rod can help locate underground minerals and water for drilling.
Synonyms
2
9.8
A forked stick used to try to find underground water or minerals
1
9.9
A stick with two branches used to find water or minerals underground
A forked stick people use to find water or oil underground
A forked stick used to find underground water or oil by dipping down
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is clearly compositional: 'divine' (to discover by intuition or dowsing) + 'rod' (a stick) yields a stick used for divining. A B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer it is a tool for dowsing/searching for water or minerals, so the meaning is directly derivable from the parts.
Etymology
The noun divining rod comes from the old practice of using a forked stick to look for water. One popular story says the stick would dip or twitch when the person walked over underground water, so people believed it could 'detect' hidden water or minerals and today a divining rod means a tool used to 'find' things below the ground.