Firehose

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈfaɪ.ərˌhoʊz/

Definitions

1. A flexible tube designed to deliver water under high pressure to extinguish fires
2. A water conduit used primarily by firefighters to spray a powerful jet for putting out flames
3. A durable hose that carries pressurized water specifically for firefighting purposes

Etymology: A firehose is about as transparent as compounds get: "fire" plus "hose", the flexible tube that carries water. The "hose" half is the older and more interesting one. It descends from Old English "hosa", a word for leg covering or stocking, and the sense of a water pipe came later, from the same idea of a flexible sleeve fitting over something. A fire-hose is, in effect, a long stocking pulled over a water source. The word's specific role is simply a description of its function: a hose used to fight fires. Nothing about its formation required a coinage or a famous first user, so the most useful thing to know is how plainly it was built, one familiar word attached to another.