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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



60 words match “PIVOT”

GUIDE n.
iug flank of each subdivision of a column of troops, or at the end of a line, to mark the pivots, formations, marches, and alignments in tactics. Farrow. Guide bar (Mach.), the part of a steam engine on which the crosshead slides, and by which the motion of the piston rod is kept parallel to the cylinder, being a subst…
HERISSON n.
A beam or bar armed with iron spikes, and turning on a pivot; - - used to block up a passage.
JEWEL n.
A bearing for a pivot a pivot in a watch, formed of a crystal or precious stone, as a ruby. Jewel block (Naut.), block at the extremity of a yard, through which the halyard of a studding sail is rove.
KNUCKLE n.
s, on another piece, and is retained by a pin which passes through the eyes and forms the pivot. -- Knuckle of veal (Cookery), the lower part of a leg of veal, from the line of the body to the knuckle.
MACHINE n.
as a screw and its nut, or a lever arranged to turn about a fulcrum or a pulley about its pivot, etc.; especially, a construction, more or less complex, consisting of a combination of moving parts, or simple mechanical elements, as wheels, levers, cams, etc., with their supports and connecting framework, calculated to…
MAGNETIC; MAGNETICAL a.
needle, a slender bar of steel, magnetized and suspended at its center on a sharp-pointed pivot, or by a delicate fiber, so that it may take freely the direction of the magnetic meridian. It constitutes the essential part of a compass, such as the mariner's and the surveyor's. -- Magnetic poles, the two points in the…
MANOGRAPH n.
eam of light on to the ground glass or photographic plate at the other end. The mirror is pivoted so that it can be moved in one direction by a small plunger operated by an elastic metal diaphragm which closes a tube connected with the engine cylinder. It is also moved at right angles to this direction by a reducing mo…
MONITOR n.
er, as for a lathe, shaped like a low turret, and capable of being revolved on a vertical pivot so as to bring successively the several tools in holds into proper position for cutting. Monitor top, the raised central portion, or clearstory, of a car roof, having low windows along its sides.
PADLOCK n.
A portable lock with a bow which is usually jointed or pivoted at one end so that it can be opened, the other end being fastened by the bolt, -- used for fastening by passing the bow through a staple over a hasp or through the links of a chain, etc.
PAWL n.
A pivoted tongue, or sliding bolt, on one part of a machine, adapted to fall into notches, or interdental spaces, on another part, as a ratchet wheel, in such a manner as to permit motion in one direction and prevent it in the reverse, as in a windlass; a catch, click, or detent. See Illust. of Ratchet Wheel. [Written…
PEDRAIL n.
spokes. Each spoke has attached to it a small roller which in its turn runs under a short pivoted rail controlled by a powerful set of springs. This arrangement permits the feet to accomodate themselves to obstacles even such as steps or stairs. The pedrail was invented by one B. J. Diplock of London, Eng.…
PINCHERS n.
An instrument having two handles and two grasping jaws working on a pivot; -- used for griping things to be held fast, drawing nails, etc.
PINTLE n. 3 definitions
An upright pivot pin; as:
POTANCE n.
The stud in which the bearing for the lower pivot of the verge is made.
QUADRANT n.
the form of an octant having a graduated scale upon its arc, and an index arm, or alidade pivoted at its apex. Mirrors, called the index glass and the horizon glass, are fixed one upon the index arm and the other upon one side of the frame, respectively. When the instrument is held upright, the index arm may be swung s…
RADIUS n.
movable limb of a sextant or other angular instrument. Knight. Radius bar (Math.), a bar pivoted at one end, about which it swings, and having its other end attached to a piece which it causes to move in a circular arc. -- Radius of curvature. See under Curvature.
RECIPIANGLE n.
An instrument with two arms that are pivoted together at one end, and a graduated arc, -- used by military engineers for measuring and laying off angles of fortifications.
ROLLING a.
axis, or moving along a surface by rotation; turning over and over as if on an axis or a pivot; as, a rolling wheel or ball.
ROWLOCK n.
gunwale, sometimes of a single pin passing through the oar, or of a metal fork or stirrup pivoted in the gunwale and suporting the oar.
RUDDER n.
the course. For rhyme the rudder is of verses. Hudibras. Balance rudder (Naut.), a rudder pivoted near the middle instead of at the edge, -- common on sharpies. -- Drop rudder (Naut.), a rudder extending below the keel so as to be more effective in steering. -- Rudder chain (Naut.), one of the loose chains or ropes w…
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