foun´tain|less

foun|tain «FOWN tuhn», noun, verb.

–n.

1. water flowing or rising into the air in a spray: »

The droplets of the fountain created a gleaming spray in the sunlight.

2. the pipes through which this water is forced and the basin that receives it: »

A beautiful stone fountain was set in the middle of the garden.

3. a spring of water: »

The fountain where the animals drank bubbled up from the ground under a stone.

4. a place to get a drink: »

a drinking fountain, a soda fountain.

5. Figurative. a source; origin: »

He found that his father was a fountain of information about football.

6. a container to hold a steady supply of ink, oil, or other liquid similarly used.

–v.i.

to jet, spray, or flow as water from a fountain: »

Spray fountained high and wide, and the first damp patch spread over a knee of my trousers (Manchester Guardian).

╂[< Old French fontaine < Late Latin fontāna, (originally) feminine of fontānus of a spring < Latin fōns, fontis spring]

–foun´tain|less, adjective.