shadoof
Definitions
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- noun A machine, resembling a well sweep, used in Egypt for raising water from the Nile for irrigation.
Examples
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The shadoof of today is the same in form as that used by the ancient Egyptians.
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In a recent London play dealing with ancient Egypt, the actor-manager exerted his historic imagination, in one scene, in so far as to introduce a _shadoof_ or water-hoist, which was worked as a naturalistic side-action to the main incident.
The Treasury of Ancient Egypt Miscellaneous Chapters on Ancient Egyptian History and Archaeology
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I sailed up the Nile, – delightful journeys on board the Nile boats, – forgetting Miss Pinshon and mathematics, except when I rather pitied the ancient Egyptians for being so devoted to the latter; forgetting Magnolia, and all the home things I could not do and would have liked to do; forgetting everything, and rapt in the enjoyment of tropical airy, and Eastern skies; hearing the plash of water from the everlasting shadoof, and watching the tints and colours on the ranges of hills bordering the Nile valley.
Note
The word 'shadoof' comes from Arabic.
