anchor escapement

American  

noun

Horology.

1. an escapement in which wedge-shaped pallets engage with an escape wheel having pointed teeth, usually facing in the direction of revolution, so that the escape wheel recoils slightly at every release.

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Etymology

Origin of anchor escapement

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

The company’s Marine Chronometer Manufacture features a new in-house movement, the UN-118 Caliber, with an anchor escapement made of a material dubbed DIAMonSIL, a composite of silicon and synthetic diamond.

From New York Times • Nov. 23, 2012

The anchor escapement, unlike the verge escapement he had been using in his pendulum clocks, allowed the pendulum to swing in such a small arc that maintaining a cycloidal pathway became unnecessary.

From Scientific American • Dec. 31, 2011

The celebrated English clockmaker Thomas Tompion—and, subsequently, his successor, George Graham—later mod­i­fied the anchor escapement to operate without recoil.

From Scientific American • Dec. 31, 2011

Then such clocks, together with those having a crown wheel escapement, went in turn out of vogue and the anchor escapement ushered in what is commonly known as the grandfather clock.

From Christopher and the Clockmakers by Stecher, William F. (William Frederick)

But with an anchor escapement the pendulum swing need be only 3� or 4�.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various