Old Faithful

Old Faithful

noun
one of the best known geysers of Yellowstone National Park.
Origin:
so named because of the longevity and regularity of its activity

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To old faithful
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

old faithful

most famous, though not the highest, of all North American geysers, at the head of the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S. It was so named in 1870 by the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition because it seemed to spout "faithfully" every 63-70 minutes. Under continuous observation, however, it has been found that the eruptions occur with some irregularity, with intervals varying from 33 to 120 minutes. After the 1983 Borah Peak (Idaho) earthquake, these intervals became increasingly less predictable. The duration of Old Faithful's eruptions ranges from 1.5 to 5.5 minutes. Billowing steam and from 3,700 to 8,400 gallons (14,000 to 32,000 litres) of hot water are ejected at one eruption. The geyser's fountainlike columns reach heights of about 170 feet (52 metres) on calm, windless days.

Learn more about Old Faithful with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
00:10
Old faithful is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Matching Quote
"Where is the literature which gives expression to Nature? He would be a poet who could impress the winds and streams into his service, to speak for him; who nailed words to their primitive senses, as farmers drive down stakes in the spring, which the frost has heaved; who derived his words as often as he used them,—transplanted them to his page with earth adhering to their roots; whose words were so true and fresh and natural that they would appear to expand like the buds at the approach of spring, though they lay half smothered between two musty leaves in a library,—aye, to bloom and bear fruit there, after their kind, annually, for the faithful reader, in sympathy with surrounding Nature. I do not know of any poetry to quote which adequately expresses this yearning for the Wild. Approached from this side, the best poetry is tame.
I do not know where to find in any literature, ancient or modern, any account which contents me of that Nature with which even I am acquainted. You will perceive that I demand something which no Augustan nor Elizabethan age, which no culture, in short, can give. Mythology comes nearer it than anything. How much more fertile a Nature, at least, has Grecian mythology its root in than English literature! Mythology is the crop which the Old World bore before its soil was exhausted, before the fancy and imagination were affected with blight; and which it still bears, wherever its pristine vigor is unabated. All other literatures endure only as the elms which overshadow our houses; but this is like the great dragon-tree of the Western Isles, as old as mankind, and, whether that does or not, will endure as long; for the decay of other literatures makes the soil in which it thrives."
Partners:WordBloglinesCitysearchThe Daily BeastAsk AnswersAsk KidsLife123SendoriHome Advisor
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
About PRIVACY POLICY Terms API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Suggest a Word Help
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT