Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Hurdy-gurdy

Hurdy-gurdy , noun

[Probably of imitative origin.]

1.
A stringed instrument, lutelike in shape, in which the sound is produced by the friction of a wheel turned by a crank at the end, instead of by a bow, two of the strings being tuned as drones, while two or more, tuned in unison, are modulated by keys.
2.
In California, a water wheel with radial buckets, driven by the impact of a jet.