turb-, turbin-, turbo-, turbu-

1. Muddiness created by stirring up sediment or having foreign particles suspended; turbidity: The turbidness of the lake was so bad that the children decided not to go swimming in it that day.
2. The quality or state of being murky; muddiness; foulness: The turbidness of Mr. Thgmpsons's urine was just one of the symptoms of his illness.

A device designed to maintain a bacterial culture at a constant turbidity: A turbidostat can use a spectrophotometer or a turbidimeter to assess the optical density of a substance.

One of the scroll-like spongy bones of the nasal passages: The turbinals are specified as the ethmoturbinal, maxilloturbinal, and sphenoturbinal.

Incurved portions of the wall of the nasal chamber are sometimes called pseudoturbinals, to distinguish them from the true turbinals which are free outgrowths into the chambers.

1. A bone shaped like a top: The turbinate is a bone in the nose which is an extension of the ethmoid bone, and is situated along the side wall of the nose, and is covered by mucous membrane.

The turbinate in the nose was so named because it is a curled shelf of bone protruding from the lateral (side) wall of the nasal cavity.
2. Etmology: The word turbinate is related to a turbine, which is derived from Latin turbo, "a whorl", "an eddy", or "a spiral shell".

Referring to something having the shape of an inverted cone; scroll-like; whorled; spiraled: Some shells of aquatic creatures have a turbinate form.

Top-shaped; shaped like an inverted top or cone: Some seed capsules have a turbinated form.

The act of spinning or whirling: The top, or gyroscope, that Tommy got as a birthday present had a very fast spin until the turbination finally slowed down and the gyroscope fell to its side.

1. Any of various machines having a rotor, usually with vanes or blades, driven by the pressure, momentum, or reactive thrust of a moving fluid: A turbine can be operated by steam, water, hot gases, or air, either occurring in the form of free jets or as a fluid passing through and entirely filling a housing around the rotor.
2. A general term for any machine capable of generating rotary mechanical power by converting the kinetic energy of a stream of fluid, such as water steam or hot gas: Turbines operate through the principle of impulse or reaction, or a combination of the two.

Turbines have been around for hundreds of years

• Primitive hydraulic turbines made of wooden discs carrying straight blades were believed to exist in Egypt and Mesopotamia in the 5th century B.C.
• Turbines were also in existence in ancient India and China in about the same time period.
• These early machines were used for milling corn and other cereals.
• Until the end of the Middle Ages, hydraulic and wind turbines were the only non-animal source of mechanical power.
• The modern development of the hydraulic turbine began towards the end of the 18th century where it powered sawmills, textile, and manufacturing industries.
• The first steam turbines in commercial service were installed in the norther United States by W. Avery, in 1831, to power some sawmills.
• Modern development of steam turbines began in the 1920s when large industrial groups like General Electric, Allis-Chalmers, Westinghouse, and Brown-Boveri applied these machines to generate electricity.
• The significant advances for the gas turbine came from its aeronautic applications.
• The majority of fossil fuel thermo-electrical conversion locations use steam turbines, and gas turbines as mechanical converters.

Removal of a turbinate bone: Dr. Big diagnosed Mr. Clarke as having a nasal obstruction which was causing his breathing difficulties, and suggested that a turbinectomy would be a good treatment in his case.

The turbinate is a bone in the nose; and it is an extension of the ethmoid bone which is situated along the side wall of the nose, and is covered by mucous membrane.

Submucous turbinectomy, or the removal of the turbinate bone without removing the overlying mucous membrane, has been found to reduce nasal discharge, sneezing, and nasal stiffness in patients with perennial allergic rhinitis (annual runny nose from allergy).

An electrical alternator which is driven by a steam engine: A turboalternator is a synchronous generator that is operated by a steam turbine.

In mechanical engineering, a centrifugal or axial-flow compressor: When the liquid is a gas, the apparatus of the turbomachinery is spoken to as being a turbofan, a turbocompressor, or a turboblower.

A specialized turbine driven by the exhaust gases of an engine that supplies air under pressure to the engine for combustion: A turbocharger is an exhaust gas-driven device consisting of a shaft with two vaned fan-type wheels at each end.

At the hot end, the turbine wheel is driven by the hot pressurized exhaust gases, while at the opposite end, the compressor wheel pressurizes the ambient air supply into the engine intake manifold.

A rotary drill used in oil or gas drilling operations, driven by a turbine motor located inside the well: Petrochemical companies use a turbodrill to bore holes or wells for natural gas reserves and crude oil.

A machine for expanding air or other fluid in order to decrease the fluid pressure and concentration; expansion turbine: Turboexpanders are employed as a source of refrigeration in industrial operations by removing ethane and natural fluids from natural gas.

1. A jet engine in which fans driven by a turbine force air into the exhaust gases: A turbofan in such an aircraft increases the propelling thrust of the engine.
2. A jet aircraft that has turbofan engines: A fan-jet is an aircraft that is powered by one or even more jet engines.

A type of gas turbine in which the fan driving air into a turbojet also forces additional air around the outside of the turbine, combining it with the exhaust of the turbojet to provide thrust.

Turbofans are quieter than simple turbojets and somewhat more fuel efficient, and are widely used in commercial aircraft.