rotaryadj.n.
/ˈrəʊt(ə)ri/, U.S. /ˈroʊdəri/ A. adj.
I. Senses relating to physical or mechanical action.† 3. Zoology. = rotatory adj. 1c. Obsolete.
1. Of motion: circular; taking place round a centre or axis.
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the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > [adjective]
rotatory1578
dinetical1646
vertiginous1663
dinetic1668
rotary1704
rotal1724
revolutionary1734
circumrotatory1744
rotative1747
rotatorial1755
verticillary1758
circumvolutionary1809
evolutionary1828
rotational1870
circumductory1872
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > [adjective] > operating by means of rotation
rotary1704
rotatory1747
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I. at Accretion The Spirits act upon the Nutritious Particles..by their Rotary Motion.
1730 J. Cook Anat. & Mech. Ess. I. xx. 256 Those Joints..that have a rotary or flexory Motion, as in the Thigh-bone, where it is fixed to the Axis of the round Head that plays in the Socket.
1793 J. Dalton Meteorol. Observ. & Ess. ii. ii. 89 The air over any part of the earth's surface, when apparently at rest or calm, will have the same rotary velocity as that part.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 72 The mandrel assumes at once a rotary and rectilinear motion.
1867 E. B. Denison Astron. without Math. (ed. 3) 10 But the rotary motion of the earth is of no use for measuring latitude.
1920 D. H. Lawrence Women in Love xv. 212 All life was a rotary motion, mechanised, cut off from reality.
1995 J. Miller & M. Stacey Driving Instructor's Handbk. (ed. 8) v. 170 The crankshaft..converts the power produced on the ignition stroke into a rotary motion.
2002 N. E. Lane & D. J. Wallace All about Osteoarthritis xi. 76 The wrist contains eight carpal bones in two rows, which..facilitate rotary movements.
2.
a. Acting or operating by means of rotation; rotative; spec. (of a machine) depending for its action on the rotation of some important part.
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1799 Repertory of Arts 10 385 Whether the sawing apparatus be of the rotary or reciprocating kind, the form of the clearing tools may be still the same.
1819 H. M. Williams tr. A. von Humboldt Personal Narr. Trav. IV. v. xvi. 206 The wrecks of the Spanish ships..were carried by the general, or rotary current to Punta Brava.
1844 Lit. Gaz. Feb. 113/2 Two sets of magnets are employed, the one set stationary and the other rotary.
1850 C. Andrew & R. Markland Brit. Patent 12,978 (1856) 3 The yarn passes to the ‘drying cage’... In the interior of the cage a rotary fan..is placed.
1884 J. Burroughs Locusts & Wild Honey (new ed.) 118 All our general storms are cyclonic in their character, that is, rotary and progressive.
1906 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 6 Jan. 7/3 Big rotary snowplows and gangs of men have been unable to cope with the conditions.
1939 Archit. Rev. 85 76/3 The laundry is all electric, and is equipped with a Rotary Washer and Spin Dryer.
1960 Which? Mar. 48/1 The rotary mower differs from the side-wheel and roller in the way it cuts.
1979 SLR Camera June 39/3 Don't put the prints in a conventional flat-bed or rotary dryer designed for drying fibre-based papers.
2002 Which? Apr. 3 With the help of lush Florida grass, we've tested this year's rotary mowers in time for spring.
b. Designating a printing press in which the printing type or surface is borne on a rotating cylinder. Also: designating the method of printing with such a press.
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society > communication > printing > printing machine or press > [adjective] > rotary
rotary1821
wraparound1959
1807 Repertory of Arts 10 337 I can perform or produce all the effects stated..by means of flat types, molds, or prints..but..I prefer the rotary principle.]
1821 Repertory of Arts 39 255 David Barclay, of Broad-street, London, Merchant; for a spiral lever or rotary standard press.
1848 Sci. Amer. 1 May 252/2 The newly invented Cylindrical Rotary Printing Machine.
1899 J. Southward Mod. Printing III. xvi. 148 Rotary web printing was in England first rendered practicable by engineers employed in the office of The Times, who produced the ‘Walter Press,’ which was completed in 1866.
1926 R. W. Polk Pract. of Printing xv. 114 There are rotary presses (called sheet-fed rotaries) which print sheets of paper previously cut to size, but most of them print from large rolls of paper which feed a continuous web through the machine at a high rate of speed.
1979 P. G. New Bk. Production vi. 81 Letterpress..is taking a leaf from litho's book by adopting some of the same techniques, such as rotary printing.
2005 A. N. Greco Bk. Publishing Industry (ed. 2) vi. 175 There are three types of [letterpress] presses: (1) platen..; (2) a flatbed cylinder..; and (3) rotary, in which the type is affixed to a cylinder that rotates to generate impressions onto paper.
c. Designating a system of well drilling in which the drilling column with the bit attached to it is rotated; relating to such a system.
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society > occupation and work > industry > drilling for oil or gas > [adjective] > method of drilling
rotary1901
turbodrilled1948
slim hole1953
1901 J. G. McIntosh tr. H. Neuburger & H. Noalhat Technol. Petroleum xxx. 396 (caption) Rotary oil-well drilling rig for shallow depths.
1944 B. A. Botkin Treasury Amer. Folklore iv. 493 Rivalries take such subtle forms as the feud between cable-tool drillers and rotary workers in the oil fields.
1974 Petroleum Rev. 28 724/3 Samples may be retrieved by conventional rotary coring.
2008 S. O. Dewberry & L. N. Rauenzahn Land Devel. Handbk. (ed. 3) 1017/1 There two basic types of drilling methods used in well construction: cable tool and rotary.
d. Designating a telephone dial with a circular disc which is rotated by means of numbered finger-holes. Also: designating a telephone with such a dial.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [adjective] > types of telephone
telephonographic1889
rotary1910
automatic1934
hands-free1955
1910 Telephones: 1907 (Dept. Commerce & Labor) vii. 90/2 A numbered rotary dial on the calling subscriber's telephone.
1948 N.Y. Times 29 Aug. f3/1 The first major high-speed rotary dial telephone system in the United States was placed in operation yesterday.
1991 New Scientist 20 Apr. 66/2 Those who lack the extension number or are calling from a rotary phone (you know, one with a dial) are referred to another number.
2000 T. Clancy Bear & Dragon xiv. 206 The computer..dialed (this term had somehow survived the demise of rotary dials on telephones) a twelve-digit number.
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1836 Penny Cycl. V. 309/2 (caption) Rotary cilia.
1858 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1857 204 The animal, though closely allied in structure to the Rotatoria or wheel animalcules, yet possesses no rotary or other ciliated apparatus.
1885 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1884 50 The prehensile cup, substituting the usual rotary organs of rotifers, communicates with a capacious..stomach.
II. Senses relating to human activity.
4. Of a group of people or their activities: acting or operating in rotation; rotating, cyclical. Now rare.
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the world > time > change > alternation > rotation > [adjective]
rotary1758
rotatory1766
rotative1771
rotational1788
rotating1854
1758 J. Massie Plan Establishm. Charity-houses iv. 123 The like rotary Course of electing Trustees and Governors of the Poor for each County should be continued in every suceeding Year.
1862 Congregationalist 30 May Several years since they..became an Independent Presbyterian church with a rotary board of elders.
1880 Victoria Parl. Deb. 1879–80 XXXI. 1014/2 I do not propose to keep up the rotary principle that prevails under the existing law, whereby one member for each province retires every second year.
1882 Chautauquan July 609/1 Its meetings began with rotary readings from one and another of the authors in the prescribed course.
1914 A. C. McLaughlin & A. B. Hart Cycl. Amer. Govt. III. 679/1 Among the state officials and administrative boards appointed by the governor that of the first importance is the rotary board of control (created in 1909) consisting of three persons..serving for six years.
1925 Red Observer 9 Oct. in J. Klugmann Hist. Communist Party Great Brit. (1980) 343 He will meet the Rotary Committee who will endeavour to stop his dole.
1962 J. Seidman Brotherhood Railroad Trainmen 33 A rotary board operates for workers who lack the seniority necessary to hold a regular assignment, with minimum and maximum provisions as to the amount of work that they can receive.
5. With capital initial. Of or relating to a Rotary Club or the worldwide organization of Rotary Clubs (see Rotary Club n. at Compounds).Rotary is a proprietary name in this context.
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society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > specific societies or organizations > [adjective] > relating to Rotary
Rotarian1911
rotary1911
1911 P. P. Harris in National Rotarian Jan. 1/1 How many believe that Rotary philosophy is to give and to influence business.
1920 Rotarian May 287/2 Rotary members are selected from the best available candidates, one from each occupation.
1945 Business Week (U.S.) 30 June 44/3 But final decision is to be made..at the next fully attended Rotary convention.
1963 Sat. Evening Post (U.S.) 9 Feb. 60/2 A new club adopts the standard Rotary constitution in its native tongue.
2002 S. Brett Torso in Town (2003) xi. 92 Oh, yesterday I was off doing a Rotary fund-raiser, so I didn't see the old devil then either!
B. n.
1. A rotary machine or engine; spec. a rotary printing press.
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society > communication > printing > printing machine or press > [noun] > rotary
rotary1836
wheel-press1875
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > other specific machines > [noun]
reeler1598
driver1659
rubber1747
heading machine1795
bruiser1809
finisher1835
stripper1835
physionotype1836
rotary1836
tetraspaston1842
netting-machine1846
speeder1847
dresser1855
spacer1857
starcher1862
bronzing liquid, machine1865
finishing machine1869
grader1869
brain machine1872
peanut roaster1872
bending machine1874
screw-machine1876
tire-upsetting-machine1877
buncher?1881
flax-breaker1889
oscillator1889
fluoroscope1893
fluorometer1897
mucker1916
spray dryer1921
paver1926
teabagger1940
burster1950
icemaker1953
laminator1958
slipform (concrete) paver1958
extruder1959
Zamboni1965
manipulator1968
wave machine1968
pipelayer1969
walking machine1971
1836 Amer. Railroad Jrnl. 23 July 457/2 I rejoice that you have put, and are putting, Rotaries into Saw Mills, upon the Railroad.
1887 Harper's Mag. July 176/1 These compact [printing] machines, eight feet high, eight wide, and twenty long, are fast displacing the old rotaries.
1923 National Geographic Mag. Apr. 386/1 Only the big rotaries, driven by one or two big engines, will suffice to pierce the big drifts that so frequently occur.
1946 V. S. Ganderton in H. Whetton Pract. Printing & Binding xii. 153/1 Multi-colour rotaries and methods have been brought to a high degree of perfection.
1990 Which? Apr. 213/3 Hover mowers and most rotaries will leave a fringe of upright grass.
2007 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 15 Apr. iii. 17/1 Rotaries are only 50 to 75 percent as fuel-efficient as piston engines.
2. With capital initial. The Rotary organization or its ideals; an individual Rotary Club. Rotary International: (the official title since 1922 of) the worldwide organization of Rotary Clubs.Rotary is a proprietary name in this context.
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society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > specific societies or organizations > [noun] > Rotary or Round Table
Round Table1819
Rotary Club1907
rotary1911
1911 P. P. Harris in National Rotarian Jan. 1/1 Rotary is entirely without precedent in the history of clubdom.
1921 Glasgow Herald 10 Feb. 9/4 Sir Harry Lauder..said Rotary was like the lamplighter who came into a dark street.
1927 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 37 281 Rotary International, Kiwanis, and various business clubs have the same sanction of exclusive membership that is possessed by the lodges.
1944 B. Johnson As much as I Dare 275 When the members of the Denver Rotary attend Eastern conventions they wear ten-gallon hats.
1963 Sat. Evening Post 9 Feb. 58 Once a mutual-aid society for Midwestern businessmen, Rotary busily promotes peace and good brotherhood on a global scale.
1999 National Trust Mag. Summer 6/1 Once again the National Trust will be working with Lions Clubs International, Rotary International..and Family Services Units.
3. North American. = roundabout n. 8.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > junction of roads, paths, or tracks > [noun] > types of road junction > roundabout
circus1898
rond-point1903
rotonda1908
traffic circle1914
roundabout1926
rotary1940
gyratory1983
modern roundabout1987
1915 W. Hegemann Rep. on City Plan Oakland & Berkeley 82/1 More than twelve years ago Mr. William Phelps Eno of New York had evolved a system of handling traffic at the intersection of streets... By this so-called rotary system street collisions are prevented by compelling all traffic to go..around the center where the collision is likely to occur.]
1940 N. Bel Geddes Magic Motorways v. 91 Progress around the rotary is slow, for all cars have to weave from lane to lane and are slowed down by the cars feeding in ahead.
1966 Pub. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. 81 ii. 11/1 In my lifetime I have seen the traffic circle of the Middle Atlantic States become the rotary of New England.
1976 ‘A. Cross’ Question of Max i. 15 She executed..several rotaries which seemed specifically designed to enable cars going in opposite directions to meet head-on.
1999 D. Mitchell Ghostwritten 398 Roofs, terraces, domes, water-towers, bridges, rotaries, ruins, statues with baleful eyes ruling seldom-visited squares.
Compounds
rotary camera n. any of various kinds of camera in which part of the apparatus rotates automatically, typically in synchronization with a moving film; spec. (in later use) a camera in which the subject material is moved automatically past the lens in synchronization with the film, used chiefly for microfilming documents.In quot. 1897: a type of cine camera with a rotating set of lenses.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > camera > [noun] > automatic
rotary camera1897
Photomaton1927
Photomat1939
1897 Photographic Times June 259/2 Fig. 2—The rotary camera.
1916 Pop. Sci. Monthly May 670/1 The rotary camera, which could take a picture about one and one-half inches square and had an oblique downward inclination, was in a hood above the rockets.
1938 M. L. Raney in Jrnl. Documentary Reprod. 1 23 A banker..wanted facsimiles of the depositors' checks. The Recordak Rotary camera employing 16 mm. safety film was the answer.
1974 G. G. Baker et al. Guide to Production of Microforms iii. 15 Some rotary cameras have been specially designed to accept continuous line-printout stationery.
1995 P. Wilson in Preserv. Microfilming (Nat. Library Austral.) ii. 49 After experiments were conducted at Kodak's headquarters in Rochester, New York, a rotary camera was built which could film 30 sheets of newspaper a minute.
2005 T. M. Gay Tris Speaker (2007) vi. 101 It took the rotary camera a couple of minutes to finish its left-to-right sweep. After the camera had moved past them, Speaker and Wood must have raced around the photographer's rear.
rotary clothes dryer n. a clothes dryer incorporating horizontal radiating spokes, esp. an approximately circular clothes line supported by spokes from a central pole and capable of rotation.
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1851 Sci. Amer. 4 Oct. 36/4 Mr. C. Matrat..has invented and taken measures to secure a patent for an improvement on the horizontal rotary Clothes Drier.
1947 M. F. Cresso Journey into Fame 27 The very first week he made a rotary clothes-dryer for Pamela and finished a squirrel-cage for Dan.
1971 Guardian 10 Apr. 4/1 (advt.) Rotary clothes drier with 100 foot line.
2009 Press & Jrnl. (Aberdeen) (Nexis) 31 Mar. (Property) 22 There are two garden sheds and a rotary clothes drier.
rotary clothes line n. = rotary clothes dryer n.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > clothesline
clothesline1702
rope1812
wash-line1890
rotary clothes line1959
1959 Rotarian Oct. 49/1 A miniature rotary clothes line.
1971 Country Gentlemen's Mag. May 222/2 Rotary Clothes Lines..offer more line space than the conventional fixed line.
1978 P. Porter Cost of Seriousness 3 A camera, an eye Of memory is recounting inches along from the pea-trellis, The cement-block fence, the rotary clothes-line.
1998 S. Dingo Dingo xxiv. 296 Some hanging one arm around the rotary clothes line, several items of washing still pegged, forgotten in all the sorrow.
Rotary Club n. a local branch of a worldwide organization of charitable societies for members of the business and professional community with the aim of promoting service to society and international goodwill.The organization was founded in Chicago in 1905, when events were hosted by members in rotation. Membership was originally restricted to men.
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society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > specific societies or organizations > [noun] > Rotary or Round Table
Round Table1819
Rotary Club1907
rotary1911
1907 Chicago Tribune 19 Oct. 5/1 The Rotary Club, an organization of professional men.
1910 Chicago Record-Herald 10 June 2/4 ‘The National Association of Rotary Clubs will be one of the most powerful factors in the civic life of the nation,’ declared Paul P. Harris... ‘Its membership, limited to one man in each line of business,..fighting together in the seventeen largest cities of the country, will be able to win on about any proposition they undertake.’
1976 S. Wales Echo 25 Nov. 20/4 The Rotary Club of Cardiff run a Christmas bargain shop from Tuesday next to Saturday.
2001 S. Brett Death on Downs (2002) lxi. 322 At a Ladies' Night of the local Rotary Club, Barry Stillwell met the widow of another past president.
rotary converter n. Electrical Engineering (now historical) an electrical machine adapted for use with either alternating or direct current and capable of converting one to the other.Rotary converters were used esp. to provide DC power from an AC supply.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > motor > [noun] > electric
electromotor1879
electric locomotive1880
shunt motor1883
shunt machine1888
repulsion motor1891
rotary converter1891
induction motor1897
traction motor1900
selsyn1926
torque motor1926
synchro1943
magslip1947
1891 U.S. Patent 458,870 3/1 A rotary converter connected with the main supply-circuit.
1950 Times Rev. Industry Sept. 25/1 One of the first three locomotives is to have a rotary converter set and d.c. motors.
2005 V. Smil Creating 20th Cent. ii. 86 The first rotary converter was patented in 1888 by another of Edison's former employees, Charles S. Bradley.
rotary-cut adj. Manufacturing Technology designating veneer produced by rotating a log against a sharp blade held with its edge parallel to the log's length, so that a layer of wood is peeled off; (also) designating this method of making veneer.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [adjective] > cut or sawn > cut or sawn in specific manner
quarter cleft1666
listed1842
through-and-through-sawn1870
half-timber1874
rotary-cut1877
quarter-sawn1878
mill-run1881
flat-sawn1882
plain-sawed1888
plain-sawn1895
rift-sawn1895
radial sawn1958
radial sawed1972
1877 U.S. Patent 188,483 1/2 One method is to take a sawed, sliced, or rotary-cut sheet of suitable width and thickness.
1922 A. H. A. Rolle Forest Products (U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census) i. 44/1 The rotary-cut method..is employed to a greater extent than any other in the manufacture of veneers.
1980 M. Frayn Make & Break i, in Plays: One (1985) 258 Or, if you want a painted wood finish, we can do rotary-cut birch at a very competitive price.
2005 Sunday Mail (Queensland, Austral.) (Nexis) 2 Jan. 75 Each is made from nine layers of moulded, rotary-cut veneer.
rotary cutter n. (a) a cutting tool or machine with a blade or blades that rotates; (b) Manufacturing Technology a machine used in the rotary-cut method of producing veneer.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > other types of cutting equipment > [noun] > others
ripper1659
Mohock1721
pinking iron1761
stock knife1799
sapper1822
ice plough1830
race knife1832
dresser1860
race-tool1867
pen-maker1875
stone-cutter1875
twinning-machine1875
nail cutter1876
paper cutter1880
guillotine1883
miller1890
flaker1891
undercutter1891
race1904
lino-cutter1907
gang mower1917
go-devil1918
rotary cutter1936
stripping-bill1968
fragmentizer1972
1799 Repertory of Arts 10 303 Similar effects may be produced..by a rotary cutter.
1850 Sci. Amer. Feb. 182/2 [The board is] bent and presented with a concave surface to the operation of the rotary cutter planing cylinder.
1892 P. N. Hasluck Milling Machines 1 Milling is a term now generally understood as meaning the shaping of metals with rotary cutters.
1936 Archit. Rev. 80 180/3 If you produce your veneers in any required size by the rotary cutter..you superimpose something on your materials which is not natural to them.
1973 Materials & Technol. VI. i. 85 The handling of veneers as they are produced by the rotary cutters varies from factory to factory.
2006 Quilter's Newslet. Mag. June 33/3 The block was made using only a ruler and rotary cutter.
rotary cutting n. the cutting of material by means of a rotary cutter.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > [noun] > veneering > processes in making veneers
rotary cutting1927
oyster shell veneering1955
1863 Brit. Farmer's Mag. Jan. 47/2 This..most useful application of the principle of rotary cutting [sc. a horse-clipping machine with blades on a rotating cylinder].
1927 E. V. Knight & M. Wulpi Veneers & Plywood xvii. 148 There are four ways of converting logs into veneer... If these are to be arranged according to volume of production, rotary cutting will easily stand at the head of the list.
2001 K. Guerrier Encycl. Quilting & Patchwork Techniques 40/2 The introduction of rotary cutting has made this very easy by eliminating much of the time spent in cutting patches.
rotary drill n. a drill with which the hole is bored using a rapidly rotating bit; cf. percussion drill n. at percussion n. Compounds 2.Rotary drills are the most common type of drill.
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1846 London Jrnl. Arts, Sci., & Manuf. 27 170 The traversing as well as the up and down movements of the rotary drill.
1901 C. Prelini & C. S. Hill Tunneling 22 The advantages claimed for rotary drills in comparison with percussion drills.
1931 Pop. Sci. Monthly June 20/2 Diesel engines and electric motors whirl rotary drills with incredible ease and smoothness.
2003 News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington) (Nexis) 21 June e1 To attract birds, Taylor used a rotary drill to cut dimples in stones. Rain fills the holes and brings in the birds.
rotary engine n. an engine which produces rotary motion or of which the action depends upon the rotation of some significant part; spec. (a) an aircraft engine with a fixed crankshaft around which cylinders and propeller rotate; (b) a Wankel engine.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [noun] > rotary or radial
rotary engine1799
radial engine1909
Wankel1959
1799 Repertory of Arts 10 6 I construct the rotary engine of Mr. Watt..so as that it shall act with double power, and without the necessity of a heavy fly-wheel.
1838 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 139/1 The expansive principle would not answer for rotary or double engines.
1909 Flying: Why & Wherefore x. 91 The recent successes of the seven-cylinder rotary Gnome engine.
1968 S. E. Ellacott Hist. Everyday Things in Eng. 1914–68 xii. 182 The Wankel rotary engine..was on show at Earl's Court in October 1967.
2005 Which? Feb. 23/2 Mazda's rotary engine was a big influence on buying for half the owners—mainly because it was ‘different’.
rotary-engined adj. possessing or powered by a rotary engine.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [adjective] > fitted with rotary engine
rotary-engined1908
1908 Commerc. Vehicle Mar. 64/2 To finish with these questions of suspension we shall lastly mention the disposition adopted on the Jenatzy Lelena and on the Burlat rotary-engined vehicles.
1973 Times 28 June 31/2 The Mazda RX3, now the cheapest rotary-engined car at £1,615 in Britain.
2003 J. H. Morrow Great War v. 189 The rotary-engined Camel, although its instability posed a grave danger to novice pilots, offered unsurpassed maneuverability to its aviators.
rotary hoe n. Agriculture a cultivating machine which uses rotating blades or tines to break up or loosen soil, remove weeds, etc.
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1847 U.S. Patent 5,290 The combination of one or more of the cross-pieces..and their rods or other equivalents with the rotary hoes.
1930 W. L. Burlison & A. W. Nolan Farm Crop Projects i. 60 (caption) The rotary hoe is a first-class tool for cultivating young corn.
2001 Marysville (Ohio) Jrnl.-Tribune 9 May 8/2 The rotary hoe provides little incorporation of herbicide, but can effectively eliminate..weeds.
rotary kiln n. a kiln in the form of a long narrow cylinder which is positioned at an incline to the horizontal and rotated slowly about its axis, typically used in the manufacture of cement or other materials.In quot. 1890: each of a series of kilns used in rotation.
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1890 Jrnl. Soc. Estate Clerks of Wks. 1 132/2 Where machinery is used it is necessary to keep it in constant motion, and, hence, a rotary kiln or series of kilns, worked in rotation..is necessary.]
1893 Proc. Engineers' Club Philadelphia 10 219 The old cement kiln has been in use in this country for the last twenty years, and the rotary kiln has been made a success only about three years ago.
1922 E. C. Eckel Cements, Limes, & Plasters (ed. 2) xxxi. 420 All American and Canadian Portland-cement plants are now equipped with rotary kilns.
2009 Brantford (Ontario) Expositor (Nexis) 23 June d13 Metal is..removed and recycled, while the remaining product goes into a rotary kiln.
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1883 Wheel World Mar. 185 The ‘Orbi-cycle’, a rotary-motioned front steerer.
rotary power n. Physical Chemistry (now rare) = rotatory power n. at rotatory adj. and n. Compounds.
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1848 Debow's Rev. Apr. 361 The right half of each disk presents a different color from the left half, because the rotary power of the sugar has caused the pencil of polarised light to deviate to the right.
1953 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 39 60 We report on some complementary studies concerning..the optical rotary power..in both hemoglobins and globins.
rotary pump n. a pump in which a rotor (esp. a rotating vane or screw) is used to displace liquid.
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1799 W. Tatham Polit. Econ. Inland Navigation, Irrigation, & Drainage 406 The patented rotary pump by Medhurst will here claim particular attention.
1907 Pop. Mech. Sept. 1013/1 A simple rotary pump is constructed on the principle of creating a vacuum in a rubber tube and so causing water to rise to fill the vacuum.
2007 Farmers Weekly (Nexis) 17 Aug. For rapid turnarounds the rotary pump sucks in water at 1000 litres a minute.
rotary quern n. Archaeology an ancient form of hand-mill consisting of a pair of stacked stones, between which grain is placed and ground with a rotary motion; cf. saddle quern n. at saddle n.1 Compounds 4.
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1857 W. R. Wilde Catal. Antiq. Mus. Royal Irish Acad. 104 When we consider the immense length of time that all nations acquainted with the use of corn must have known how to work the rotary quern, this must be indeed an implement of extreme antiquity.
1925 Times 30 June 13/3 A few saddle querns have been uncovered and two pieces of the rotary quern.
2003 Britannia 34 153 These are characteristic of Sussex flat-topped-style rotary querns and are thought to be Iron Age or early Roman in date.
rotary switch n. an electric switch which is operated by rotating a knob.
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1867 U.S. Patent 71,158 1 An indicator to show the position of the circuit-closer in a rotary switch.
1912 Electrician & Mechanic 24 370/2 The rotary switch controls one light at a time.
2001 Log Home Living Dec. 81/1 Dimmers..are controlled with touch, slide or rotary switches.
rotary tiller n. Agriculture = rotary hoe n.
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1856 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 1 Feb. 169/2 Either ploughs or rotary tillers are used, or both.
1917 Pop. Sci. Monthly Aug. 205/2 (caption) The rotary tiller plows and pulverizes the soil, weeds and roots in one operation.
2009 Washington Post (Nexis) 27 June e3 Use a rotary tiller to break up the dirt if the area is too large or the soil too hard to dig with a shovel.
rotary table n. (a) Engineering a graduated metal disc used to support a workpiece to enable the operator to drill or cut at exact angular intervals about an axis; (b) Oil Industry (in rotary drilling) a power-driven steel turntable through the middle of which the drill string passes and by which it is turned.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > piercing or boring tools > [noun] > boring tool > for boring in the ground > equipment for use with
sinking-chain1820
runner1839
rotary table1845
wad hook1881
socket1883
spreadera1884
whipstock1903
1845 F. W. Simms Treat. Principal Math. Drawing Instruments (ed. 2) (advt. section in end matter) E. M. Clarke's List 4 Self-acting Slotting Machines, with Transverse Slides and Rotary Table.
1900 Machinery May 287/1 The machine is supplied with a rotary table 22″ in diameter having automatic feed in either direction.
1906 B. Redwood Treat. Petroleum (ed. 2) I. 289 The lower end of the drilling-rod or casing with the bit attached is passed through the rotary table.
1997 Metalworking Production June 17/2 An angle table with an integrated rotary table is also available, maximising flexibility for five-sided machining of small parts.
2006 M. S. Raymond & W. L. Leffler Oil & Gas Production in Nontechnical Lang. v. 92 The kelly bushing is firmly attached to the rotary table during drilling but is pulled out of the way..before any drill pipe is taken out of the hole.
rotary-wing adj. Aeronautics (attributive) designating aircraft deriving their lift from aerofoils that rotate, usually in an approximately horizontal plane (as in helicopters and autogiros).
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > rotary wing aircraft > [adjective]
rotary-wing1908
tilt rotor1961
1908 Westm. Gaz. 14 Aug. 10/2 A new machine, the Gyropter, or rotary-wing flying machine.
1958 Times 1 Mar. 7/3 A company engaged in manufacturing rotary wing aircraft is seeking permission to operate a base which would consist of a small platform built over the Thames.
2000 H. W. Thistle & J. W. Barry in C. D. Whiteman Mountain Meteorol. xiv. 280 The wake from a rotary-wing aircraft (helicopter) is a combination of a hover wake and a vortex pair.
rotary-winged adj. Aeronautics = rotary-wing adj.
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1900 Massillon (Ohio) Independent 11 Oct. Carl Brown..has invented a flying machine which he calls a rotary winged wheel machine.
1939 Science 8 Dec. Suppl. 11/2 Rotary winged aircraft of the autogiro or helicopter type will usher in the third stage of growth in man's conquest of the air.
2001 C. Chant Air War in Gulf 1991 94/2 The Iraqi army's large armoured force..received special attention from the fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1704