bascule

American  

[bas-kyool] / ˈbæs kyul /

noun

Civil Engineering.

1. a device operating like a balance or seesaw, especially an arrangement of a movable bridge basculebridge by which the rising floor or section is counterbalanced by a weight.

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bascule British  

/ ˈbæskjuːl /

noun

1. Also called: balance bridge.   counterpoise bridge.  a bridge with a movable section hinged about a horizontal axis and counterbalanced by a weight Compare drawbridge

2. a movable roadway forming part of such a bridge

   Tower Bridge has two bascules

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Etymology

Origin of bascule

First recorded in 1670–80; from French: name for a number of seesawlike mechanical devices, Middle French bacule, noun derivative of baculer “to strike on the buttocks” (probably originally, “to land on one's buttocks”), equivalent to bas “down” + -culer, verbal derivative of cul “rump, buttocks”; -s- by false analysis as bas(se) adjective + cule taken as a feminine noun; see base ², culet