pivot
[ piv-uht ]
/ ˈpɪv ət /
Save This Word!
noun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
to mount on, attach by, or provide with a pivot or pivots.
to modify (a policy, opinion, product, etc.) while retaining some continuity with its previous version:The start-up was able to pivot the app to a new market without losing too many man-hours of coding.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?
Origin of pivot
First recorded in 1350–1400; <French, Middle French, Old French “hinge, pivot”; further origin uncertain, perhaps related to Catalan piu, Occitan pivèu “spindle, pivot,” and Provençal pua “tooth on a heckle (flax comb)”
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use pivot in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for pivot
pivot
/ (ˈpɪvət) /
noun
a short shaft or pin supporting something that turns; fulcrum
the end of a shaft or arbor that terminates in a bearing
a person or thing upon which progress, success, etc, depends
the person or position from which a military formation takes its reference, as when altering position
verb
(tr) to mount on or provide with a pivot or pivots
(intr) to turn on or as if on a pivot
Word Origin for pivot
C17: from Old French; perhaps related to Old Provençal pua tooth of a comb
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