a device used to dispense refrigerated drinking water
a dispenser of chilled water intended for casual human consumption
a kind of device used to remove heat from electronic devices, such as computer processors , that makes uses of water instead of air (see air cooler and CPU cooling )
a to dispense water in a controlled manner
A fixture that includes a refrigeration system for chilling drinking water.
The water cooler has two quite distinct meanings in IBM culture. Firstly, users of large IBM mainframes need one to stop their machines overheating. Secondly the water cooler, along with the coffee machine, is a forum for exchange of ideas and gossip in IBM offices. John Akers’ famous directive to his staff, Stop standing round the water cooler, was understandably interpreted in different ways. Many account managers, following the first definition, believed Akers was telling them to abandon mainframes and start selling Unix workstations instead; demoralized by the anticipated lack of commission, they immediately opted for early retirement. See Water MIPS.
A water cooler is a device that cools and dispenses water. For devices that cool air, by use of water evaporation, see evaporative cooler. They are generally broken up in two categories: bottless and bottled water coolers.
