Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hurdy-gurdy \Hur"dy-gur`dy\, n. [Prob. of imitative origin.]
   1. A stringled 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.