make-and-break

American  

[meyk-uhn-breyk] / ˈmeɪk ənˈbreɪk /

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to a device, operated by an electric current, for automatically opening or closing a circuit once it has been closed or opened by a mechanical springlike device, as in a doorbell.

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Etymology

Origin of make-and-break

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

Many others after Reis tried to devise practical make-and-break telephones, and all failed; although their success would have rendered them very valuable as a means of fighting the Bell patent.

From Edison, His Life and Inventions by Dyer, Frank Lewis

Besides this the make-and-break contacts on which the, ordinary battery bell depends for its operation are an objectionable feature from the standpoint of maintenance.

From Cyclopedia of Telephony & Telegraphy Vol. 1 A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc. by Miller, Kempster

I was going to file a nick in the make-and-break business but they’re too foxy to give me a file.

From Tom Slade on a Transport by Clarity, Thomas

Spring-loaded sliding pinion drives make-and-break shaft 38 through peg in inclined slot 39.40.

From The Wright Brothers' Engines and Their Design by Hobbs, Leonard S.

A good old-fashioned make-and-break motor for mine after this—one you can depend on.”

From The Motor Girls on Crystal Bay or, The Secret of the Red Oar by Penrose, Margaret