Breastwheel

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Breastwheel \Breast"wheel`\ (br[e^]st" hw[=e]l`), n.
     A water wheel, on which the stream of water strikes neither
     so high as in the overshot wheel, nor so low as in the
     undershot, but generally at about half the height of the
     wheel, being kept in contact with it by the breasting. The
     water acts on the float boards partly by impulse, partly by


     its weight.
     [1913 Webster]