joystick

or joy stick

[ joi-stik ]

/ ˈdʒɔɪˌstɪk /

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noun

Informal. the control stick of an airplane, tank, or other vehicle.

Computers. a lever resembling this, used to control movement of a cursor or other graphic element for video games and computer graphics.Compare mouse (def. 4), stylus (def. 3).

any leverlike switch for controlling, manipulating, guiding, or the like.

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Origin of joystick

First recorded in 1905–10; joy + stick¹

Words nearby joystick

Joyner-Kersee, joyous, joypad, joypop, joyride, joystick, Jozi, JP, J particle, JPEG, Jpn.

How to use joystick in a sentence

Picking "classic" will let players focus entirely on selecting commands from menus, instead of giving direct joystick control to a "lead" character like Cloud or Tifa.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade leads latest PlayStation game-reveal event|Sam Machkovech|February 25, 2021|Ars Technica
In a new study, researchers from Purdue University in Indiana, US have shown that pigs can use a digital screen and joystick, operated by their snout, to move a cursor around for rewards.
Pigs can play video games. Here’s why that matters.|By Rebecca E. Nordquist/The Conversation|February 16, 2021|Popular-Science
The animals need to understand the link between moving around a joystick and what’s happening on a computer screen, and then link what’s happening on the screen to getting a reward.
Pigs can play video games. Here’s why that matters.|By Rebecca E. Nordquist/The Conversation|February 16, 2021|Popular-Science
Alcántar followed a few paces back, holding an iPad with touch-screen controls like a joystick’s.
How technology might finally start telling farmers things they didn’t already know|Katie McLean|December 18, 2020|MIT Technology Review

The accompanying software lets you customize the responsiveness of things like triggers and joysticks, and map button combos and commands to whatever buttons you wish.
The Perfect Last-Minute Gifts for the Gamers in Your Life|Patrick Lucas Austin|December 11, 2020|Time
All it takes is a look beyond the joystick, and local software shop, to get a glimpse at its shining promise.
The New Revolution in Videogames|Scott Steinberg|September 15, 2010|DAILY BEAST
His hand had been jerking the joystick to plus one all this time and now he became consciously aware of this.
Makers|Cory Doctorow
For the daring and brilliant youth who held the joystick was a master-pilot, who understood every whim and fancy of his machine.
Dastral of the Flying Corps|Rowland Walker
The pilot pushes the joystick slowly forward and prepares to land.
Cavalry of the Clouds|Alan Bott
Probably he was shot dead and fell over on to the joystick, which put the machine to its last dive.
Cavalry of the Clouds|Alan Bott
Some one else has produced the latest thing in connections between the pilot's joystick and the Vickers gun.
Cavalry of the Clouds|Alan Bott

British Dictionary definitions for joystick

joystick

/ (ˈdʒɔɪˌstɪk) /

noun

informal the control stick of an aircraft or of any of various machines

computing a lever by means of which the display on a screen may be controlled used esp for games, flight simulators, etc

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