differential gear

American  

noun

Machinery.

1. differential.

2. any of various comparable arrangements of gears, as an epicyclic train.

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differential gear British  

noun

1. the epicyclic gear mounted in the driving axle of a road vehicle that permits one driving wheel to rotate faster than the other, as when cornering

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Etymology

Origin of differential gear

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

differential gear

He designed the first power loom, the first rolling mill, the first differential gear, the first picture projector.

From Time Magazine Archive

"The nuts firm, the brakes in order, the sprockets running true with the differential gear?"

From Right Ho, Jeeves by Wodehouse, P. G. (Pelham Grenville)

The propellers of the Abaris worked independently, on a sort of differential gear, like the rear wheels of an automobile.

From Dick Hamilton's Airship, or, a Young Millionaire in the Clouds by Garis, Howard Roger

He suggested I should pass the time seeing the sights while he fixed up the sprockets or the differential gear or whatever it was.

From A Damsel in Distress by Wodehouse, P. G. (Pelham Grenville)

The objection to the crank is the fact that it weakens the shaft, and that it can only be used with a clutch, not with a differential gear.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 447, July 26, 1884 by Various