clepsydra
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Empedocles performed his experiment with a household implement people had used for centuries, the so-called clepsydra or “water thief,” which was used as a kitchen ladle.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Either slow like the dripping of the remnants of water in a clepsydra.
From Hung Lou Meng, Book II Or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel in Two Books by Joly, H. Bencraft
So far as we at present know there were four forms of time-measuring instruments known to antiquity—the sun-dial, the clepsydra or water clock, the hour-glass, and the graduated candle.
From Inventions in the Century by Doolittle, William Henry
Anxious to turn the channel of her meditations in another direction, she rose from her seat to examine the clepsydra.
From Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf by Reynolds, George W. M. (George William MacArthur)
This water clock was called a clepsydra, the name being taken from two Greek words meaning 'thief of water.'
From Christopher and the Clockmakers by Stecher, William F. (William Frederick)
Smaller clepsydrae of glass were very early used in place of the sun-dial, to mark the hours.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 4 "Cincinnatus" to "Cleruchy" by Various
The flight of time in New England houses was marked without doors by sun-dials; within, by noon-marks, hour-glasses, and rarely by clepsydras, or water-clocks.
From Customs and Fashions in Old New England by Earle, Alice Morse
Before there were hour-glasses and clepsydras, most phenomena could be estimated as to their durations and intervals, with no greater precision than degrees of hardness can be estimated by the fingers.
From Essays on Education and Kindred Subjects Everyman's Library by Spencer, Herbert
It seems probable that some of these water clocks could have been simple drip clepsydras, with perhaps a striking arrangement added.
From On the Origin of Clockwork, Perpetual Motion Devices, and the Compass by Price, Derek J. de Solla (Derek John de Solla)
Well," he said, "clepsydras always work better when nearly full than when nearly empty.
From Andivius Hedulio Adventures of a Roman Nobleman in the Days of the Empire by White, Edward Lucas
The Arabian astronomers also devoted themselves to the construction and perfection of astronomical instruments, to the measurement of time by clocks of various kinds, by clepsydras and sun-dials.
From History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science by Draper, John William
