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Glite Dictionary
water back

water back

1 8.9
A tank behind a stove or fireplace that heats water for home use
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : calentador de agua
  • She explained how the water back heats water efficiently for the home.

Examples

  • We decided to replace the old water back with a more energy-efficient model.

  • You want a water back for that?

    Broken City (2013)

  • The plumber installed a new water back to provide hot water for the kitchen.

Synonyms

water heater
vswater back
  • US
28 1.8

A machine that heats and keeps hot water for a home or building

is placed inside a fireplace or stove to heat water directly
hot-water heater
vswater back
  • US
5 3.0

A machine that heats and stores water for a house or building

is installed at the back of a fireplace or in a stove firebox
hot-water tank
vswater back
  • US
1 2.4

A container that heats and holds hot water for a building

is fitted at the back of a fireplace or in a stove firebox

Surface Forms

water back singular
water backs plural

Morphology

water + back

The parts 'water' and 'back' transparently signal a water-related object located at the rear, so a learner could guess a relation of water + back. However, the precise sense ‘a heater/tank installed at the back of a stove or fireplace’ is specialised and not strictly predictable from the constituents or common compositional patterns, so it requires prior exposure or technical knowledge.

Etymology

Water back comes from old stoves where a tank or pipes of water sat at the back of the stove or fireplace and were warmed by the fire. Because the water was literally at the 'back' and used to make hot water, the name came to mean 'a water heater' attached to the stove.