sprocket
[sprok-it]
- Machinery.
- Also called chainwheel, sprocket wheel.a toothed wheel engaging with a conveyor or power chain.
- one tooth of such a wheel.
- Carpentry. a wedge-shaped piece of wood extending a sloping roof over the eaves with a flatter pitch.
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Origin of sprocket
First recorded in 1530–40; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sprocket
Historical Examples
Be sure that there are four sprocket holes for each picture.
Motion Picture Operation, Stage Electrics and IllusionsHenry C. Horstmann
The parts to be turned are sprocket wheels which are held in the two 9-inch chucks.
Turning and BoringFranklin D. Jones
It was an internal-cut gear, according to Duryea's description, with sprocket teeth on its periphery.
An endless chain connects the sprockets on the carriage wheels to the sprocket wheels on the driving shaft.
Shortly after that hour I looked at the sledge-meter and found that it had ceased working; the sprocket had been knocked off.
The Home of the BlizzardDouglas Mawson
sprocket
- Also called: sprocket wheel a relatively thin wheel having teeth projecting radially from the rim, esp one that drives or is driven by a chain
- an individual tooth on such a wheel
- a cylindrical wheel with teeth on one or both rims for pulling film through a camera or projector
- a small wedge-shaped piece of wood used to extend a roof over the eaves
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Word Origin
C16: of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for sprocket
1530s, originally a carpenters' word for a piece of timber used in framing, of unknown origin. The meaning "projection from the rim of a wheel that engages the links of a chain" is first recorded 1750.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper