vernier scale

American

noun

vernier.

vernier scale Scientific

A small, movable auxiliary graduated scale attached parallel to a main graduated scale and calibrated to indicate fractional parts of the subdivisions of the larger scale. Vernier scales are used on certain precision instruments to increase accuracy in measurement.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A slide is made to play upon it with a vernier scale, graduated to hundredths of an inch.

From Ordnance Instructions for the United States Navy. 1866. Fourth edition. by United States. Navy Dept. Bureau of Ordnance

It is provided with a vernier scale graduated to hundredths of an inch.

From Ordnance Instructions for the United States Navy. 1866. Fourth edition. by United States. Navy Dept. Bureau of Ordnance

The vernier of the figure reading upwards, the lower edge, D, will denote the top of the barometer column; and is the zero of the vernier scale.

From A Treatise on Meteorological Instruments Explanatory of Their Scientific Principles, Method of Construction, and Practical Utility by Negretti, Henry

A mariner's card, set into the opening with a metal vernier scale, is in the usual form of the mariner's compass card of the 18th century; it is executed as a line engraving.

From Early American Scientific Instruments and Their Makers by Bedini, Silvio A.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023