Also vernier scale a small, movable, graduated scale running parallel to the fixed graduated scale of a sextant, theodolite, barometer, etc., and used for measuring a fractional part of one of the divisions of the fixed scale.
Machinery. an auxiliary device for giving a piece of apparatus a higher adjustment accuracy.
a small movable scale running parallel to the main graduated scale in certain measuring instruments, such as theodolites, used to obtain a fractional reading of one of the divisions on the main scale
an auxiliary device for making a fine adjustment to an instrument, usually by means of a fine screw thread
(modifier) relating to or fitted with a vernier
a vernier scale
a vernier barometer
First recorded in 1760–70; named after P. Vernier
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Hwasong-14 had only one nozzle, and it used four vernier engines to steer the missile.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 30, 2017
These course corrections were made by controllable vernier rockets and slight changes of the direction in the thrust of the main engine.
From Time Magazine Archive
Their hopes buoyed, scientists at Pasadena's Jet Propulsion Laboratory planned a minor mid-course correction and ordered Surveyor's three small vernier engines to fire briefly.
From Time Magazine Archive
Name the use of the following: Gal vanometer, vernier, oscillograph, pantograph, micrometer, pyrometer.
From Time Magazine Archive
The driving screw having been thrown out of gear, the circle is turned until the outer vernier indicates the sidereal time, whereupon the driving screw is thrown into gear again.
From Photographs of Nebul? and Clusters Made with the Crossley Reflector by Keeler, James Edward
"In creating this piece, there were at least 20,000 back-and-forth exchanges between the algorithms and the creative team," said Gauthier Vernier of Obvious.
From Barron's ● May 4, 2026
Tremouliere will contribute to a smart kicking game and is one half of a dangerous partnership with inside centre Gabrielle Vernier.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2023
“We are so happy to play a semifinal next week,” France captain Gabrielle Vernier said.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 29, 2022
“We're far away from people being in a mode where they're saying this is a distressed scenario,” said Michel Vernier, head of fixed income strategy at Barclays Private Bank.
From Reuters ● Oct. 12, 2022
The Barometer Vernier.—The vernier, an invaluable contrivance for measuring small spaces, was invented by Peter Vernier, about the year 1630.
From A Treatise on Meteorological Instruments Explanatory of Their Scientific Principles, Method of Construction, and Practical Utility by Negretti, Henry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
