geyser
n. countablen. a natural spring that shoots hot water and steam high into the air at regular times. It is a common sight in places like Yellowstone National Park.
n. a natural spring that intermittently ejects water and steam in a column or jet. The term is also used figuratively to describe a person who is very talkative or a source that produces a sudden, large amount of something.
The geyser erupted every few hours, sending steam into the sky.
While hiking in the national park, we watched a geyser erupt and heard the loud hissing of the steam.
The geologist explained that the geyser's predictable eruptions are caused by the heating of groundwater beneath the earth's surface, creating a cycle of pressure and release.
From the name of a particular Icelandic geyser which is mentioned as early as the 1760s in The Annual Register, as “Geyser, a wonderful spring in the valley of Haukadal”. From Geysir (“Gusher”), the Icelandic name of the hot spring in Iceland (see Wikipedia), from the verb geysa (“to gush”), from Old Norse geysa (“to gush”). Doublet of gusher.