Hypertext Webster Gateway: "pivot"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pivot \Piv"ot\, n. [F.; prob. akin to It. piva pipe, F. pipe.
See {Pipe}.]
1. A fixed pin or short axis, on the end of which a wheel or
other body turns.
2. The end of a shaft or arbor which rests and turns in a
support; as, the pivot of an arbor in a watch.
3. Hence, figuratively: A turning point or condition; that on
which important results depend; as, the pivot of an
enterprise.
4. (Mil.) The officer or soldier who simply turns in his
place whike the company or line moves around him in
wheeling; -- called also {pivot man}.
{Pivot bridge}, a form of drawbridge in which one span,
called the pivot span, turns about a central vertical
axis.
{Pivot gun}, a gun mounted on a pivot or revolving carriage,
so as to turn in any direction.
{Pivot tooth} (Dentistry), an artificial crown attached to
the root of a natural tooth by a pin or peg.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Pivot \Piv"ot\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Pivoted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Pivoting}.]
To place on a pivot. --Clarke.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
pivot
n 1: the person in a rank around whom the others wheel and
maneuver [syn: {pivot man}]
2: axis consisting of a short shaft that supports something
that turns [syn: {pin}]
3: the act of turning on (or as if on) a pivot; "the golfer
went to the driving range to practice his pivot"
v : turn on a pivot [syn: {swivel}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.