steelyard

American  

[steel-yahrd, stil-yerd] / ˈstilˌjɑrd, ˈstɪl jərd /

noun

1. a portable balance with two unequal arms, the longer one having a movable counterpoise and the shorter one bearing a hook or the like for holding the object to be weighed.

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steelyard British  

/ ˈstiːlˌjɑːd /

noun

1. a portable balance consisting of a pivoted bar with two unequal arms. The load is suspended from the shorter one and the bar is returned to the horizontal by adding weights to the longer one

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Etymology

Origin of steelyard

First recorded in 1630–40; steel + yard ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

steelyard

One crane operator in a steelyard was James J. Braddock, world heavyweight champion from 1935 to 1937, when he lost the crown to Joe Louis.

From New York Times ● Jul. 1, 2014

It was the first substantial improvement in the art of weighing since the Romans developed the graduated steelyard.

From Time Magazine Archive

And here, beyond belief, I held 'twixt my naked finger and thumb the steelyard by which my uncle's fate should be weighed, who had crossed me at every turn.

From Idonia: A Romance of Old London by Arthur F. Wallis

It was a large apartment, full of piles of wood and fagots, with a steelyard on one side.

From Cuore (Heart) An Italian Schoolboy's Journal by Isabel Florence Hapgood

Then, one day, some interfering Tongan visitor examined the pea and declared that it had been taken from a steelyard designed to weigh up to 400 lbs.

From The Colonial Mortuary Bard; "'Reo," The Fisherman; and The Black Bream Of Australia 1901 by Louis Becke