capstan

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: cap=stan

CIDE DICTIONARY

capstan, n. [F. cabestan, fr. Sp. cabestrante, cabrestante, fr. cabestrar to bind with a halter, fr. cabestrohalter, fr. L. capistrum halter, fr. capere to hold (see Capacious); or perh. the Spanish is fr. L. caper goat + stans, p. pr. of stare to stand; cf. F. chèvre she-goat, also a machine for raising heavy weights.].

 A vertical cleated drum or cylinder, revolving on an upright spindle, and surmounted by a drumhead with sockets for bars or levers. It is much used, especially on shipboard, for moving or raising heavy weights or exerting great power by traction upon a rope or cable, passing around the drum. It is operated either by steam power or by a number of men walking around the capstan, each pushing on the end of a lever fixed in its socket.  [1913 Webster]

Capstan bar, one of the long bars or levers by which the capstan is worked; a handspike.. -- To pawl the capstan, to drop the pawls so that they will catch in the notches of the pawl ring, and prevent the capstan from turning back. -- To rig the capstan, to prepare the for use, by putting the bars in the sockets. -- To surge the capstan, to slack the tension of the rope or cable wound around it.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

capstan, n.
1 a thick revolving cylinder with a vertical axis, for winding an anchor cable or a halyard etc.
2 a revolving spindle on a tape recorder, that guides the tape past the head.

Idiom

capstan lathe a lathe with a revolving tool-holder.

Etymology

Prov. cabestan, ult. f. L capistrum halter f. capere seize

ROGET THESAURUS

capstan

Instrument

N instrument, machinery, mechanism, engineering, instrument, organ, tool, implement, utensil, machine, engine, lathe, gin, mill, air engine, caloric engine, heat engine, gear, tackle, tackling, rig, rigging, apparatus, appliances, plant, materiel, harness, trappings, fittings, accouterments, barde, equipment, equipmentage, appointments, furniture, upholstery, chattels, paraphernalia, mechanical powers, lever, leverage, mechanical advantage, crow, crowbar, handspike, gavelock, jemmy, jimmy, arm, limb, wing, oar, paddle, pulley, wheel and axle, wheelwork, clockwork, wheels within wheels, pinion, crank, winch, cam, pedal, capstan, wheel, inclined plane, wedge, screw, spring, mainspring, can hook, glut, heald, heddle, jenny, parbuckle, sprag, water wheel, handle, hilt, haft, shaft, heft, shank, blade, trigger, tiller, helm, treadle, key, turnscrew, screwdriver, knocker, hammer, edge tool, borer, vice, teeth, nail, rope, peg, support, spoon, arms, oar, cardiograph, recapper, snowplow, tenpenny, votograph, instrumental, mechanical, machinal, brachial.

Elevation

N elevation, raising, erection, lift, sublevation, upheaval, sublimation, exaltation, prominence, lever, crane, derrick, windlass, capstan, winch, dredge, dredger, dredging machine, dumbwaiter, elevator, escalator, lift, elevated, stilted, attollent, rampant, on stilts, on the shoulders of, on one's legs, on one's hind legs.