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hand pump

hand pump

2 3.0
A simple device you move by hand to lift water or push air
  • noun
  • /hænd pʌmp/
translation icon : bomba manual
  • An operator uses a hand pump to close the hydraulic filter press mounted on the lower sides of the Clean Machine.
  • hand pump for water
  • use a hand pump
  • old hand pump

He began working the hand pump, but no water came out.

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Examples

  • If you need a small hand pump, I definitely recommend the Lansinoh.

    Blog text (8)
  • During the drought, we relied on a hand pump to access water from our well.

  • He began working the hand pump, but no water came out.

  • Being cheap, I then bought an Evenflo single hand pump.

    Blog text (8)
  • I was informed that the regional minister had come to inaugurate the hand pump to make it easy for the villagers to obtain drinking water.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • At the time, UNICEF was subsidizing hand pumps, and they were getting lost and sold as scrap iron.

    Blog text (6)
  • When I came close, I saw that there was a hand pump set up under the canopy; thick flower garlands had been placed around it.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • In the middle of an open-air courtyard, I see a tiny old woman draining water from a hand pump into a bucket.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • It was so deep that they used hand pumps to keep the dugout from flooding with groundwater.

    Academic text (2009)
  • The campground has approximately 150 hand pump wells, spread throughout the campground, as well as mechanical wells servicing comfort stations (restrooms).

    Academic text (1994)

How Powerful

hydraulic pump
  • Specialized
1 4.1
pump
266 2.1
hand pump
2 3.0
bulb syringe
  • Specialized
6.9

Surface Forms

hand pump singular
hand pumps plural

Morphology

hand + pump

The meaning 'a pump operated manually' is directly and compositionally derived from 'hand' (manual/or by hand) + 'pump' (machine for moving fluids). This noun-noun compound pattern indicating the means or type of device is cross-linguistically common and will be obvious to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Hand pump is a literal name: a pump you use with your hand. Picture moving a handle up and down to pull water from a well—that image explains why it means 'a tool for pumping water or air by hand'.