slide rule
a device for performing mathematical calculations, consisting essentially of a ruler having a sliding piece moving along it, both marked with graduated, usually logarithmic, scales: now largely replaced by the electronic calculator.
Origin of slide rule
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use slide rule in a sentence
The engineers had slide rules and mechanical calculators but didn’t like doing calculations.
The NASA Engineer Who’s a Mathematician at Heart | Susan D'Agostino | January 19, 2021 | Quanta MagazineI walked to Greenwich, studying the slide rule for measuring of timber, which is very fine.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete | Samuel PepysI swallowed, and took out my notebook and pencil, and laid my pocket slide rule in front of me.
The Professional Approach | Charles Leonard HarnessHe readjusted the slide rule and slid the hairline over a bit.
Islands of Space | John W CampbellHe sat in the big chair with his feet sticking straight out in front of him and played with a slide rule.
What Rough Beast? | Jefferson Highe
The use of a slide rule will make this transference to a new average very easy.
The Science of Human Nature | William Henry Pyle
British Dictionary definitions for slide rule
a mechanical calculating device consisting of two strips, one sliding along a central groove in the other, each strip graduated in two or more logarithmic scales of numbers, trigonometric functions, etc. It employs the same principles as logarithm tables
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
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