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aeolipile

American  
[ee-ol-uh-pahyl] / iˈɒl əˌpaɪl /
Or aeolipyle,

noun

  1. a round vessel caused to rotate by the force of tangentially escaping steam: an early example of jet propulsion.

  2. a device for injecting the vapors of heated alcohol into a laboratory furnace.


aeolipile British  
/ iːˈɒlɪˌpaɪl /

noun

  1. a device illustrating the reactive forces of a gas jet: usually a spherical vessel mounted so as to rotate and equipped with angled exit pipes from which steam within it escapes

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of aeolipile

1650–60; < Latin aeolīpilae balls of Aeolus, alteration of aeolīpylae gates of Aeolus, equivalent to Aeolī (genitive singular of Aeolus ) + pylae, plural of pyla < Greek pýlē gate