gimbals

[jim-buh lz, gim-]

noun (used with a singular verb)

Sometimes gimbal. a contrivance, consisting of a ring or base on an axis, that permits an object, as a ship's compass, mounted in or on it to tilt freely in any direction, in effect suspending the object so that it will remain horizontal even when its support is tipped.

Origin of gimbals

First recorded in 1570–80; alteration of gimmal

Also called gimbal ring.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gimbals

Historical Examples of gimbals

The shill led the way to an eight-foot tower mounted on gimbals.
Gambler's World
John Keith Laumer
Marine chronometers are supported in their cases or boxes by gimbals.
Time Telling through the Ages
Harry Chase Brearley
He struck a match and lighted a lamp that hung in gimbals on the bulkhead.
The Ocean Wireless Boys and the Lost Liner
Wilbur Lawton
When fitted in gimbals, it can be used at sea with much advantage.
A Treatise on Meteorological Instruments
Henry Negretti
To effect this they are suspended in gimbals by a brass arm.
A Treatise on Meteorological Instruments
Henry Negretti

British Dictionary definitions for gimbals

gimbals

pl n

a device, consisting of two or three pivoted rings at right angles to each other, that provides free suspension in all planes for an object such as a gyroscope, compass, chronometer, etcAlso called: gimbal ring

Word Origin for gimbals

C16: variant of earlier gimmal finger ring, from Old French gemel, from Latin gemellus, diminutive of geminus twin

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