servo

¹ American  

[sur-voh] / ˈsɜr voʊ /

adjective

1. acting as part of a servomechanism.

   servo amplifier.

2. pertaining to or having to do with servomechanisms.

   servo engineer.

3. noting the action of certain mechanisms, as brakes, that are set in operation by other mechanisms but which themselves augment the force of that action by the way in which they operate.

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noun

PLURAL

servos

1. Informal.  servomechanism.

verb (used with object)

servoed, servoing

1. to connect (a mechanism) to another as a servomechanism.

servo- ² American  

1. a combining form used in the names of devices or operations that employ a servomechanism.

   servocontrol.

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servo ¹ British  

/ ˈsɜːvəʊ /

adjective

1. (prenominal) of, relating to, forming part of, or activated by a servomechanism

   servo brakes

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noun

1. informal  short for servomechanism

servo ² British  

/ ˈsɜːvəʊ /

noun

1. informal  a service station

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Etymology

Origin of servo¹

1945–50; independent use of servo-, taken as an adj., or shortening of words formed with it

Origin of servo-²

Extracted from servomotor

Example Sentences

For the adult Ochi, Adrian Parish of Nolan’s team designed animatronics heads with about 30 servos in them that were worn by suit performers.

From Los Angeles Times

A key component of that system is a servo motor that moves the rudder as commanded, made by Collins Aerospace, a unit of aerospace giant RTX, formerly known as Raytheon.

From Seattle Times

As they’re hopping in the car, one of the guys says, “Oh, we’re going down the servo,” which is like the service station, the gas station.

From Los Angeles Times

They can’t get a robotic servo thing that’s going to lift something up, but if it’s made out of cardboard and it’s got light bulbs in it, then yeah, sure.

From The Verge

What goes up must come down — and hard, when dealing with a 95-pound hunk of 3D printed plastics, aluminum, sensors, microprocessors and servo motors catapulted dozens of feet above ground.

From Los Angeles Times