joystick

Or joy stick

[joi-stik]

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.

joystick

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of joystick¹

First recorded in 1905–10; joy + stick ¹

Example Sentences

"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

Using a joystick that wouldn't look out of a place on a gaming console, two engineers drive the underwater robot.

From BBC

But while they will be familiar with the typical way of playing - moving and aiming with joysticks and shooting with the "A" button - there’s a significant new feature too.

From BBC

The joystick was sensitive to every movement and as I descended with the runway filling the windscreen very rapidly, correcting mistakes to stay on course became impossible.

From BBC