Water wheel : Any wheel for propelling machinery or for other purposes, that is made to rotate by the direct action of water; -- called an overshot wheel when the water is applied at the top, an undershot wheel when at the bottom, a breast wheel when at an intermediate point; other forms are called reaction wheel, vortex wheel, turbine wheel, etc.

Water wheel : The paddle wheel of a steam vessel.

Water wheel : A wheel for raising water; a noria, or the like.

Example:


Taxonomy
water wheel, wheel, overshot, watermills, power, backshot, axle, overshot waterwheel, overshot wheel, mills, buckets, Undershot wheel, stream, Hydraulic wheel, efficiency, wood axle, engineers, falling water.

Defination from the web:
water wheel standing 42 feet high powers the Old Mill at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, USA ... The most common use of the water wheel was to mill flour in gristmills, but other uses included foundry work and machining, and pounding linen ...