A pulley is a device consisting of a wheel over which a rope or chain is pulled in order to lift heavy objects.
The weights are moved via a cable and pulley system.
pulley in British English
(ˈpʊlɪ)
noun
1.
a wheel with a grooved rim in which a rope, chain, or belt can run in order to change the direction or point of application of a force applied to the rope, etc
2.
a number of such wheels pivoted in parallel in a block, used to raise heavy loads
3.
a wheel with a flat, convex, or grooved rim mounted on a shaft and driven by or driving a belt passing around it
Word origin
C14 poley, from Old French polie, from Vulgar Latin polidium (unattested), apparently from Late Greek polidion (unattested) a little pole, from Greek polos axis
pulley in American English
(ˈpʊli)
nounWord forms: pluralˈpulleys
1.
a small fixed wheel, sometimes turning in a block, with a grooved rim in which a rope or chain runs, as to raise a weight attached at one end by pulling on the other end: it changes the direction of effort but provides no mechanical advantage
2.
a combination of such wheels, used to increase the mechanical advantage
3.
a wheel that turns or is turned by a belt, rope, chain, etc., so as to transmit power
Word origin
ME poley < OFr polie < ML poleia < poledia < MGr *polidion, dim. of polos, pivot, windlass, axis: see wheel
Examples of 'pulley' in a sentence
pulley
With a rattle the chain began to run through the pulley at the end of the crane and drop towards the canal.
Leeson, Robert THE THIRD CLASS GENIE (2001)
So the pulley was one more piece he couldn't fit... but she could.
Wood, Bari DOLL'S EYES (2001)
Then she brushed off her hands and went back to the pulley rope.