crosshead

American  

[kraws-hed, kros-] / ˈkrɔsˌhɛd, ˈkrɒs- /

noun

1. Printing. a title or heading filling a line or group of lines the full width of the column.

2. Machinery. a sliding member of a reciprocating engine for keeping the motion of the joint between a piston rod and a connecting rod in a straight line.

3. Nautical. a crosspiece on a rudderpost by which the rudder is turned.

4. Engineering, Building Trades. a transverse timber for transmitting the lifting effort of two or more jackscrews supporting it to the foot of a shore that it supports.

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crosshead British  

/ ˈkrɒsˌhɛd /

noun

1. printing a subsection or paragraph heading printed within the body of the text

2. a block or beam, usually restrained by sliding bearings in a reciprocating mechanism, esp the junction piece between the piston rod and connecting rod of an engine

3. nautical a bar fixed across the top of the rudder post to which the tiller is attached

4. a block, rod, or beam fixed at the head of any part of a mechanism

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Etymology

Origin of crosshead

First recorded in 1835–45; cross- + head

Example Sentences

The piston rod is attached to a long cast-iron crosshead, from which two bent connecting rods extend downward, the one to a crank, and the other to a crank-pin inserted in the flywheel.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 470, January 3, 1885 by Various

The two rams of these cylinders pass through the ends of, and carry, a crosshead, upon which the main ram rests.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 648, June 2, 1888. by Various

The cylinder crosshead is shown in the inboard profile to have reached the underside of the beams of the upper deck.

From Fulton's "Steam Battery": Blockship and Catamaran by Chapelle, Howard I. (Howard Irving)

A hydraulic press was placed below the column and its crosshead above it, and then a hinged oven containing twelve large gas burners was clamped about the column.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 1157, March 5, 1898 by Various

Large metal planing machines were well known by 1830, and by midcentury crossheads and crosshead guides were used on both sides of the Atlantic in engines with and without working beams.

From Kinematics of Mechanisms from the Time of Watt by Ferguson, Eugene S.