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

See Examples For:

crosshead

If the rod could be driven in until the shoulder is, say, 1/8 inch from the crosshead face, it would then be near enough to finish to size by filing.

From Turning and Boring A specialized treatise for machinists, students in the industrial and engineering schools, and apprentices, on turning and boring methods, etc. by Franklin D. Jones

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 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 Howard I. (Howard Irving) Chapelle

The crosshead and the chains, weighing more than 50 tons, descended with a fearful crash upon the press, and the tube itself fell down upon the packing p. 338beneath. 

From Lives of the Engineers The Locomotive. George and Robert Stephenson by Samuel Smiles

At the lower ends of these screws are geared nuts all rotated simultaneously by a system of gears which cause the movable crosshead to rise and fall as desired.

From The Mechanical Properties of Wood Including a Discussion of the Factors Affecting the Mechanical Properties, and Methods of Timber Testing by Samuel J. Record