joystick

American  

[joi-stik] / ˈdʒɔɪˌstɪk /

Or joy stick

noun

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

2. Computers. a lever resembling this, used to control movement of a cursor or other graphic element for video games and computer graphics.

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

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joystick British  

/ ˈdʒɔɪˌstɪk /

noun

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

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

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Etymology

Origin of joystick

First recorded in 1905–10; joy + stick ¹

Example Sentences

We’d compare our Jordans and Ewings and AF1’s that matched our Starter Jackets or Triple Fat Gooses that eventually landed on the floor because fighting over the joystick was much — much — more important.

From Salon

Encord’s Hansen said that there are warehouses planned in Eastern Europe where large teams of operators will sit with joysticks, guiding robots across the world.

From Los Angeles Times

In Hover mode, the joystick provides fine-grained yaw control, allowing the BlackFly to execute its surreal pirouette.

From The Wall Street Journal

"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

The European Union enforced a similar ban on video games and joysticks earlier this year.

From BBC