Pivot
['pɪvət]
Definition
(noun.) the act of turning on (or as if on) a pivot; 'the golfer went to the driving range to practice his pivot'.
(noun.) axis consisting of a short shaft that supports something that turns.
(noun.) the person in a rank around whom the others wheel and maneuver.
(verb.) turn on a pivot.
Inputed by Armand--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A fixed pin or short axis, on the end of which a wheel or other body turns.
(n.) The end of a shaft or arbor which rests and turns in a support; as, the pivot of an arbor in a watch.
(n.) Hence, figuratively: A turning point or condition; that on which important results depend; as, the pivot of an enterprise.
(n.) The officer or soldier who simply turns in his place whike the company or line moves around him in wheeling; -- called also pivot man.
(v. t.) To place on a pivot.
Inputed by Katrina
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. Turn, hinge, depend.
Inputed by Kari
Definition
n. the pin on which anything turns: the officer or soldier at the flank upon whom a company wheels: that on which anything depends or turns.—adj. Piv′otal of the nature of a pivot: acting as a pivot.—n. Piv′ot-bridge a form of swing-bridge moving on a vertical pivot.—adj. Piv′oted furnished with a pivot or pivots.—ns. Piv′ot-gear′ing a system of gearing permitting the driving-shaft to be swivelled so as to set the machine in any direction with relation to the power; Piv′ot-gun a gun mounted on a pivot so as to be able to turn in any direction; Piv′oting the pivot-work in machines; Piv′ot-man the soldier or officer who acts as a pivot (see Pivot).
Typist: Millie
Examples
- She felt strange and inevitable, as if she were centred upon the pivot of all existence, there was no further reality. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- He arranged an electrometer, consisting of an iron needle poised on a pivot, by which to note the action of the magnet. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The shaft was supported on a pivot at the bottom, and was turned by a handle at the top, as represented in the accompanying drawing. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- On that one pivot, the whole success of the experiment turned. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- She is the pivot it all turns on. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- A magnetic needle held under a current-bearing wire turns on its pivot and finally comes to rest at an angle with the current. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Her reason for standing so dead still as the pivot of this circle of heath-country was just as obscure. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- It was then that Clennam learned for the first time what little pivots this great world goes round upon. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- The ends of the balance staff are made very small so as to form very delicate pivots which turn in jewel bearings. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- One method of producing the same effect is to make the cylinders oscillate on pivots, as contrived by Mr. Murdoch, in the first model steam carriage, made in 1784. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- The opening being then closed by a screw-nut, the apparatus, which is mounted on pivots, with an appropriate stand, is swung backwards and forwards like a pendulum. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- The balance wheel moves very rapidly, and, therefore, its movement must be as free as possible from retarding friction, so its bearing pivots are made very small. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- It was turning upon pivots, and with it a section of the floor directly in front of it was turning. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- Scarcely had it started than I gave the signal to Tars Tarkas, simultaneously springing for the receding half of the pivoting door. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- Pivoting on my left toe, I swung a terrific right to his jaw, and, like a felled ox, he dropped in his tracks. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- From the diagram it will be seen that the armature of the latter has a long, pivoted extension arm, or platen, trough-like in shape, in which the paper tape runs. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- A series of shoes are pivoted to the frame, extend beneath the seed box, and are provided with springs for depressing or raising them. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- This toy consisted of a globe pivoted on two supports, one of which was a communicating pipe leading into a heated cauldron of water beneath. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The movable jaw is inclined from its lower end from the fixed jaw and at its upper end is pivoted to swing on a heavy round iron bar. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- They have hook-shaped handles at the upper end, and terminate below in forks that are pivoted to the shanks of type hammers, to raise and lower them. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The armature lever, L, is long, pivoted in the centre, and is bent over at the end. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Edison employed this peculiar property by constructing a small machine in which a pivoted bar is alternately heated and cooled. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
Typist: Sol