sprocket

[sprok-it]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sprocket ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

Origin of sprocket

First recorded in 1530–40; origin uncertain

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

Related Words for sprocket

cog, cogwheel, pinion, gearwheel

Examples from the Web for sprocket

Historical Examples of sprocket

Be sure that there are four sprocket holes for each picture.
Motion Picture Operation, Stage Electrics and Illusions
Henry C. Horstmann
The parts to be turned are sprocket wheels which are held in the two 9-inch chucks.
Turning and Boring
Franklin D. Jones
It was an internal-cut gear, according to Duryea's description, with sprocket teeth on its periphery.
Smithsonian Institution - United States National Museum - Bulletin 240
Anonymous
An endless chain connects the sprockets on the carriage wheels to the sprocket wheels on the driving shaft.
Smithsonian Institution - United States National Museum - Bulletin 240
Anonymous
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 Blizzard
Douglas Mawson

British Dictionary definitions for sprocket

sprocket

noun

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

Word Origin for sprocket

C16: of unknown origin

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

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.