the.com/millrace
The channel that bullies water into doing actual work for once.
means The fast-moving channel of water that flows to and from a mill's waterwheel, delivering the force that turns it.
from A straightforward compound: 'mill' plus 'race,' where 'race' meant a strong, swift current or channel — the same sense survives in 'millrace' and in old dialect words for a rushing stream. Not the same 'race' as competition; this one comes from Old English/Old Norse roots meaning a running or rushing course of water.
- definition
- Channel directing water to turn a mill wheel
- etymology
- Race once meant swift current, not competition
- physics flex
- Converts gravity into torque before torque was cool
- legacy
- Ancestor of every hydroelectric dam alive today