collet
/ˈkɒlɪt
/noun
1A segmented band put round a shaft and tightened so as to grip it.The collet closer is shaped and sized to, on tightening of the collet closet, radially compress the collet to grip the sheath....
- The shaft of the cutting tool fits into a collet, which in turn fits into the chuck sleeve.
- The main advantages of the sliding headstock portion of the machine are that it can load the part into the collet with extreme precision, turn the part very precisely and handle heavy metal removal.
1.1A small collar in a clock to which the inner end of a balance spring is attached.
2A flange or socket for setting a gem in jewellery.The necklace in Plate IX, based on the hopvine, is set with thirty different colored gemstones, each mounted in a collet setting with two leaves and three conelike blossoms....
- In wearing the ring, he noticed that when he turned the collet or face of the ring in toward his palm, he became invisible.
- Six diamonds in collet settings serve as the ‘prongs’ to hold the hessonite garnet in place.
Origin
Late Middle English (denoting a piece of armour to protect the neck): from Old French, diminutive of col 'neck', from Latin collum.