steelyard

American  

[steel-yahrd, stil-yerd] / ˈstilˌyɑrd, ˈstɪl yərd /

noun

1. a portable balance with two unequal arms, the longer one having a movable counterpoise and the shorter one bearing a hook or the like for holding the object to be weighed.

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steelyard British  

/ ˈstiːlˌjɑːd /

noun

1. a portable balance consisting of a pivoted bar with two unequal arms. The load is suspended from the shorter one and the bar is returned to the horizontal by adding weights to the longer one

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Etymology

Origin of steelyard

First recorded in 1630–40; steel + yard ¹

Example Sentences

One crane operator in a steelyard was James J. Braddock, world heavyweight champion from 1935 to 1937, when he lost the crown to Joe Louis.

From New York Times • Jul. 1, 2014

It was the first substantial improvement in the art of weighing since the Romans developed the graduated steelyard.

From Time Magazine Archive

Not a tremor of the steelyard betrayed the weight of its shadowy occupant.

From Strange Stories by Allen, Grant

It is not simply, however, in the question of overcharges and the manipulating the steelyard that the servants’ ideas of morality differ materially from our own.

From Sidelights on Chinese Life by Macgowan, J. (John)

Then, one day, some interfering Tongan visitor examined the pea and declared that it had been taken from a steelyard designed to weigh up to 400 lbs.

From The Colonial Mortuary Bard; "'Reo," The Fisherman; and The Black Bream Of Australia 1901 by Becke, Louis