PINION n.
A cogwheel with a small number of teeth, or leaves, adapted to engage with a larger wheel, or rack (see Rack); esp., such a wheel having its leaves formed of the substance of the arbor or spindle which is its axis. Lantern pinion. See under Lantern. -- Pinion wire, wire fluted longitudinally, for making the pinions of…
PITCH n.
ribed by the number expressing the quotient obtained by dividing the number of teeth in a wheel by the diameter of its pitch circle in inches; as, 4 pitch, 8 pitch, etc. -- Pitch chain, a chain, as one made of metallic plates, adapted for working with a sprocket wheel. -- Pitch line, or Pitch circle (Gearing), an ide…
PLAY n.
Motion; movement, regular or irregular; as, the play of a wheel or piston; hence, also, room for motion; free and easy action. "To give them play, front and rear." Milton. The joints are let exactly into one another, that they have no play between them. Moxon.
POLE n.
(a) A carriage pole, a wooden bar extending from the front axle of a carriage between the wheel horses, by which the carriage is guided and held back. (b) A flag pole, a pole on which a flag is supported. (c) A Maypole. See Maypole. (d) A barber's pole, a pole painted in stripes, used as a sign by barbers and hairdress…
POST n.
ters mailed by a postmaster. -- Post chaise, or Post coach, a carriage usually with four wheels, for the conveyance of travelers who travel post. Post day, a day on which the mall arrives or departs. -- Post hackney, a hired post horse. Sir H. Wotton. -- Post horn, a horn, or trumpet, carried and blown by a carrier…
PRAYING n.
oöl.), a mantis, especially Mantis religiosa. See Mantis. -- Praying machine, or Praying wheel, a wheel on which prayers are pasted by Buddhist priests, who then put the wheel in rapid revolution. Each turn in supposed to have the efficacy of an oral repetition of all the prayers on the wheel. Sometimes it is moved by…
PRESSER n.
One who, or that which, presses. Presser bar, or Presser wheel (Knitting machine), a bar or wheel which closes the barbs of the needles to enable the loops of the yarn to pass over them. -- Presser foot, the part of a sewing machine which rests on the cloth and presses it down upon the table of the machine.…
PRIME a.
on as supplied by some natural source, and apply them to drive other machines; as a water wheel, a water- pressure engine, a steam engine, a hot-air engine, etc. (c) Fig.: The original or the most effective force in any undertaking or work; as, Clarkson was the prime mover in English antislavery agitation. -- Prime nu…
PRINTING n.
-- Printing press, a press for printing, books, newspaper, handbills, etc. -- Printing wheel, a wheel with letters or figures on its periphery, used in machines for paging or numbering, or in ticket-printing machines, typewriters, etc.; a type wheel.