rack and pinion

¹ American  

noun

Machinery, Automotive.

1. rack15a

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rack-and-pinion ² American  

[rak-uhn-pin-yuhn] / ˈræk ənˈpɪn yən /

adjective

1. of or relating to a mechanism in which a rack engages a pinion.

   rack-and-pinion steering.

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rack-and-pinion British  

noun

1. a device for converting rotary into linear motion and vice versa, in which a gearwheel (the pinion) engages with a flat toothed bar (the rack)

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adjective

1. (of a type of steering gear in motor vehicles) having a track rod with a rack along part of its length that engages with a pinion attached to the steering column

Etymology

Origin of rack-and-pinion

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Engineering-wise, the Next Gen car includes an independent rear suspension and rack and pinion steering that’s more reactive to slight driver adjustments.

From Washington Post • Feb. 19, 2022

WHY: The steering coupling can strip on the rack and pinion assembly and result in a loss of steering control and crash hazard.

From Seattle Times • May 6, 2016

And this is all standard-gauge railroad with no rack and pinion.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then we changed the rack and pinion so that it would actually go around corners.

From Time Magazine Archive

Large mechanical stage for stand, A, adapted for slides 50×100 mm; both movements by rack and pinion adjustments $32.—

From Microscopes and Accessory Apparatus Catalogue No. 40 by Leitz, Ernst