capstan
noun/ˈkæp.stən/
Etymology Borrowed into Middle English from either Old French cabestan, from Old Occitan cabestan, from cabestre (“pulley cord”) or from Spanish cabestran, both of which derive from Latin capistrum (“halter”), from capiō (“take hold of”).
Nautical, Transport Especially A vertical cylindrical machine that revolves on a spindle, typically surmounted by a drumhead with sockets for levers for turning it; used to apply force to cables, ropes, etc.
- to pawl the capstan
- to rig the capstan
4 more examples
- to surge the capstan
- "Man the capstan! Blood and thunder!—jump!"—was the next command, and the crew sprang for the handspikes.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
- We toiled over the capstan, and late in the afternoon slipped out of the harbour.1951, W. I. B. Crealock, Vagabonding Under Sail, Hastings House (New York), page 211:
- Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
Business, Electrical engineering, Electricity, Electromagnetism, Electronics, Energy, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics A rotating spindle used to move recording tape through the mechanism of a tape recorder.
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music a screw on the rising side of a piano key, which serves the function of lifting the wippen when the key is depressed
- The upward force of the capstan causes the wippen to rise, thrusting the jack upward into another component called the “knuckle” that is fixed to one end of the hammer shank.(Can we date this quote?), Kawai:
- Derived terms
- capstan bar, capstan effect, capstanman, capstan screw, jeer capstan