crosshead

[ kraws-hed, kros- ]

/ ˈkrɔsˌhɛd, ˈkrɒs- /

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noun

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

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.

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

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.Compare shore² (def. 1).

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of crosshead

First recorded in 1835–45; cross- + head

Words nearby crosshead

cross-gartered, cross-grained, cross hair, cross hairs, crosshatch, crosshead, cross index, crossing, crossing guard, crossing over, crossjack

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use crosshead in a sentence

The air and circulating pumps are bolted to the back of the condensers, and are worked by levers from the engine crosshead.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 430, March 29, 1884|Various
One of the alternatives is a guided crosshead (fig. 9, top right).
Kinematics of Mechanisms from the Time of Watt|Eugene S. Ferguson
The two rams of these cylinders pass through the ends of, and carry, a crosshead, upon which the main ram rests.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 648, June 2, 1888.|Various
This large upward force is required for stripping the tubes off the mandrels, in addition to raising the main ram crosshead, etc.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 648, June 2, 1888.|Various

In Winwick Churchyard is a great fragment of a crosshead, consisting of the boss and two arms.
The Danes in Lancashire and Yorkshire|S. W. Partington

British Dictionary definitions for crosshead

crosshead

/ (ˈkrɒsˌhɛd) /

noun

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

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

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

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

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