divining rod

noun

: a forked rod believed to indicate the presence of water or minerals especially by dipping downward when held over a vein

Examples of divining rod in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Their long proboscises, like divining rods, gently make inquiries of the stone. Literary Hub, 23 Feb. 2026 Which is exactly what the blatantly ambitious and media divining rod two-term Democrat is aiming for – to be in the conversation with his conversations. Dominic Patten, Deadline, 28 Mar. 2025 As the book’s subtitle indicates, Reed was also a divining rod for New York, tracking and manifesting the city’s raw energies. Jeremy Lybarger, The New Republic, 17 Oct. 2023 Rorschach, founded by Frederick and Randy Baker in the late 1990s, has developed a veritable divining rod for places to put on shows. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 12 July 2023 For centuries, dowsers have claimed the ability to find groundwater, precious metals, and other quarry using divining rods and a seemingly mystical intuition. Svati Kirsten Narula, Outside Online, 10 June 2022 Over five years of production, Brennan, 30, used his camera as a kind of divining rod for finding ways to live more consciously in a world of higher temperatures and ever-worsening drought. David Hochman, Forbes, 21 June 2021 Throughout his career, Biden has been a divining rod for the middle of his party, more moderate in the 1990s when that was in vogue and more liberal during the Obama era when the center of gravity shifted. Peter Baker, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Jan. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1751, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of divining rod was in 1751

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Cite this Entry

“Divining rod.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/divining%20rod. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.

Kids Definition

divining rod

noun
: a forked rod believed to reveal the presence of water or minerals by dipping downward when held over a vein
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