spirit level

noun Surveying.

a device for determining true horizontal or vertical directions by the centering of a bubble in a slightly curved glass tube or tubes filled with alcohol or ether.

Origin of spirit level

First recorded in 1760–70

Also called level.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for spirit level

Ross R. Rogers began surveying the ditch with a straight-edge and spirit-level.
Forty Years Among the Indians|Daniel W. Jones
I could wish we had a theodolite here, and a spirit-level, and other instruments, for settling some important questions.
Narrative And Miscellaneous Papers|Thomas De Quincey
The movement of the bulb was caused by the heat of the finger expanding the top of the spirit-level and causing it to bend.
Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II|Joshua Rose
It has a slant to one side that maybe is more the fault of the floor than your spirit-level, Jib.
The Heart of Canyon Pass|Thomas K. Holmes

Near the circle may be seen a spirit-level, which serves to show when the axis is exactly on a level with the horizon.
Letters on Astronomy|Denison Olmsted

British Dictionary definitions for spirit level

spirit level

noun

a device for setting horizontal surfaces, consisting of an accurate block of material in which a sealed slightly curved tube partially filled with liquid is set so that the air bubble rests between two marks on the tube when the block is horizontal

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

spirit level

noun Surveying.

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Origin of spirit level

Examples from the Web for spirit level

British Dictionary definitions for spirit level

spirit level

noun