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

After the crosshead end is finished, the rod is reversed in the lathe for turning the piston end.

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

Between each pair would have been the iron track, or channel, in which the ends of the crosshead travelled, along the axis of the engine in elevation.

From The Pioneer Steamship Savannah: A Study for a Scale Model United States National Museum Bulletin 228, 1961, pages 61-80 by Howard I. (Howard Irving) Chapelle

The rack and pinions are of cast steel, as is also the tiller crosshead.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 1178, June 25, 1898 by Various

The spring buffers, which, as has been said, form an essential part of the quadrant, are fitted with steel rollers at the point of contact with the crosshead, thereby reducing the friction to a minimum.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 1178, June 25, 1898 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