What does turbine mean?
Word: Turbine
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Turbine means a machine with blades that are spun round by moving water, steam, gas or wind, used to produce electricity or power.
Word origin: From French turbine, from Latin turbo, "a spinning top" or "whirlwind".
How do you spell turbine?
Syllables: tur - bine
Tricky part: The last part is spelt -ine and, in British English, sounds like mine, not like the "een" of machine.
Watch out for: turbyne, turbain
Memory tip: Imagine one blade of a wind turbine standing tall like the letter i near the end, with the n and e turning round it.
Turbine in a sentence
Example 1: Huge wind turbines turn on the hills near Kanyakumari.
Example 2: Steam from boiling water spins the turbine at a power station.
Example 3: The dam's turbines produce electricity for thousands of homes.
Fun Fact
Jet engines on aeroplanes are a kind of gas turbine: air is squeezed, burnt with fuel, and the hot gas rushes past rings of blades and spins them.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Twins
Read the two sentences and choose the correct option:
1. A new turbine at the dam now makes power for three villages. 2. For the wedding, Dada tied a bright saffron turbine around his head.
a) only 2
b) both
c) only 1
d) neither
Show answer
c) only 1. Sentence 2 needs turban, the long cloth wound round the head; a turbine is a machine that makes power.
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) combine
b) engine
c) terbine
d) routine
Show answer
c) terbine. The first syllable is spelt t-u-r, as in turn and turtle.
Word Champ
Read the three statements and choose the correct option:
1. A turbine has blades that are turned by moving water, steam, gas or wind. 2. A dynamo is a machine that changes movement into electricity. 3. A propeler is a set of turning blades that drives a boat or aircraft forward.
a) only 1 and 2 are true
b) only 2 and 3 are true
c) only 1 is true
d) all three are true
Show answer
a) only 1 and 2 are true. The third statement misspells propeller, which takes a double l; the first two are correct.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
The engineers checked every turbine at the wind farm and replaced two blades before the monsoon seeson began.
a) 1
b) 3
c) 0
d) 2
Show answer
a) 1. Season is the only error, as it is written with ea in the middle.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. At a power station, a turbine is usually joined to a ___ that makes electricity.
a) generator
b) microphone
c) thermometer
d) telescope
Show answer
a) generator
2. Why are wind turbines often built on hilltops or near the coast?
a) the wind there is stronger and steadier
b) the sunlight there is brighter
c) the soil there is softer to dig
d) the land there is cheaper to farm
Show answer
a) the wind there is stronger and steadier
