waterspout

UK: /ˈwɔːtəˌspaʊt/

US: /ˈwɔtɚspaʊt, ˈwɑtɚ-/

US: (wô′tər spout′, wot′ər-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

wa•ter•spout /ˈwɔtɚspaʊt, ˈwɑtɚ-/   n. [countable]

1. Building a spout or pipe from which water is sent out.
2. Meteorology a whirling, funnel-shaped cloud that touches the surface of a body of water, drawing upward spray and mist.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

wa•ter•spout  (wô′tər spout′, wot′ər-), n. 

1. Building Also called rainspout. a pipe running down the side of a house or other building to carry away water from the gutter of the roof.
2. Building a spout, duct, or the like, from which water is discharged.
3. Meteorology a funnel-shaped or tubular portion of a cloud over the ocean or other body of water that, laden with mist and spray, resembles a solid column of water reaching upward to the cloud from which it hangs. Cf. tornado (def. 1).

• 1350–1400; 1730–40 for def. 3; Middle English; see water, spout

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

waterspout / ˈwɔːtəˌspaʊt/ noun

1. a tornado occurring over water that forms a column of water and mist extending between the surface and the clouds above
2. a sudden downpour of heavy rain
3. a pipe or channel through which water is discharged, esp one used for drainage from the gutters of a roof