Hypertext Webster Gateway: "steelyard"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Steelyard \Steel"yard\, n. [So named from a place in London
called the Steelyard, which was a yard in which steel was
sold.]
A form of balance in which the body to be weighed is
suspended from the shorter arm of a lever, which turns on a
fulcrum, and a counterpoise is caused to slide upon the
longer arm to produce equilibrium, its place upon this arm
(which is notched or graduated) indicating the weight; a
Roman balance; -- very commonly used also in the plural form,
steelyards.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
steelyard
n : a portable balance consisting of a pivoted bar with arms of
unequal length [syn: {lever scale}, {beam scale}]
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