crankshaft

[krangk-shaft, -shahft]

noun Machinery.

a shaft having one or more cranks, usually formed as integral parts.

Origin of crankshaft

First recorded in 1850–55; crank¹ + shaft

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for crankshaft

Historical Examples of crankshaft

This crank is mounted on a crankshaft carried on the metal tube M.
Boys' Book of Model Boats
Raymond Francis Yates
A heavy flywheel, J, is now fitted to the inside end of the crankshaft.
Boys' Book of Model Boats
Raymond Francis Yates
In the Gnome motor the cylinders revolved and the crankshaft was stationary.
The Romance of Aircraft
Lawrence Yard Smith
What if the crankshaft could be repaired sooner than they supposed?
The Castle Of The Shadows
Alice Muriel Williamson
The crankshaft is of chrome nickel steel, carried on seven bearings.
A History of Aeronautics
E. Charles Vivian

British Dictionary definitions for crankshaft

crankshaft

noun

a shaft having one or more cranks, esp the main shaft of an internal-combustion engine to which the connecting rods are attached

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for crankshaft

1854, from crank (v.) + shaft (n.). The basic form of the mechanism appears to date from Roman times.