Gimbals

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Gimbal \Gim"bal\ (g[i^]m"bal), or Gimbals \Gim"bals\
     (g[i^]m"balz), n. [See {Gimmal}, n.]
     A contrivance for permitting a body to incline freely in all
     directions, or for suspending anything, as a barometer,
     ship's compass, chronometer, etc., so that it will remain
     plumb, or level, when its support is tipped, as by the


     rolling of a ship. It consists of a ring in which the body
     can turn on an axis through a diameter of the ring, while the
     ring itself is so pivoted to its support that it can turn
     about a diameter at right angles to the first.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Gimbal joint} (Mach.), a universal joint embodying the
        principle of the gimbal.
  
     {Gimbal ring}, a single gimbal, as that by which the cockeye
        of the upper millstone is supported on the spindle.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  gimbals
       n : an appliance that allows an object (such as a ship's
           compass) to remain horizontal even as its support tips