| 释义 |
spirit-level
Also spirit level.
[f. spirit n. + level n. 1.]
A kind of levelling instrument for determining a horizontal line or surface, usually consisting of a hermetically-sealed glass tube filled with spirit and an air-bubble, which, when the tube lies exactly horizontal, occupies a position midway in its length.
1768Phil. Trans. LVIII. 286 The spirit level shewing the axis of the telescope to be horizontal. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §97 It could be brought justly horizontal by means of a pocket Spirit-Level being placed upon it. 1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 292 This is to be done by means of levelling, in which the instrument called the spirit-level may be thus employed. 1834Brit. Husb. I. 534 The instrument called a spirit or water level is the most proper for ascertaining the inclination of the ground with certainty. 1881Young Ev. Man his own Mechanic §282. 111 In bringing horizontal bars, shelves, etc., to a true level the spirit level must be used.
attrib.1868in Rep. to Govt. U.S. Munitions War 135 Two degrees of elevation taken with a spirit-level quadrant.
Hence spirit-levelling vbl. n.
1861Sir H. James (title), Abstract of the Principal Lines of Spirit Levelling in England and Wales. |