joystick
Americannoun
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Informal. the control stick of an airplane, tank, or other vehicle.
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Computers. a lever resembling this, used to control movement of a cursor or other graphic element for video games and computer graphics.
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any leverlike switch for controlling, manipulating, guiding, or the like.
noun
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informal the control stick of an aircraft or of any of various machines
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computing a lever by means of which the display on a screen may be controlled used esp for games, flight simulators, etc
Etymology
Origin of joystick
Explanation
A joystick is a handle-like device that you use to control your character in a video game. If you want your character to move left, you generally move the joystick to the left. Originally, a joystick was the control an airplane pilot uses to adjust the movements of the plane — by moving the joystick back and forth, the pilot adjusts the roll, and moving it up and down controls the pitch of the plane's nose. Joystick was aviators' slang for this lever, and the makers of the earliest video games, in the 1970s, adopted the word for their similarly-shaped control.
Vocabulary lists containing joystick
Flying High: Aviation Words
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Ready Player One
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Video Game Vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Claw machine lover Neiki Lee carefully lowers the metal jaws of a crane with a joystick into a pool of prizes, only to have the small toy slip from its clutches again and again.
From Barron's • May 31, 2026
In Hover mode, the joystick provides fine-grained yaw control, allowing the BlackFly to execute its surreal pirouette.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025
"It was just little joystick video game controllers to make the camera pan and tilt, and that was just not precise enough," he recalls.
From BBC • May 15, 2025
His motorized wheelchair whirring to life, “Rocket Rod” Foster uses the joystick attached to the end of an armrest to roll forward inside his West Los Angeles apartment.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 11, 2024
As I did, there was a brilliant flash of light, and then I saw that my avatar was no longer holding a joystick.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
