PIVOT • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Pivot

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/pˈɪvət/ Listen

noun

Pivot n.

A fixed pin or short axis, on the end of which a wheel or other body turns.

The end of a shaft or arbor which rests and turns in a support; as, the pivot of an arbor in a watch.

Hence, figuratively: A turning point or condition; that on which important results depend; as, the pivot of an enterprise.

(Mil.) The officer or soldier who simply turns in his place whike the company or line moves around him in wheeling; called also pivot man.

Pivot bridge, a form of drawbridge in which one span, called the pivot span, turns about a central vertical axis.

Pivot gun, a gun mounted on a pivot or revolving carriage, so as to turn in any direction.

Pivot tooth (Dentistry), an artificial crown attached to the root of a natural tooth by a pin or peg.

verb

Pivot v. t. (past & past part. pivoted; pres. part. pivoting) To place on a pivot.

See images of 'Pivot'

Etymology of 'Pivot'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Pivot" Quotes from Famous Books

... sword in the hands of Justice; I might no more hope to make Egypt free and great and sit upon my lawful throne. Khem was lost, and lost was I, Harmachis. In the rush and turmoil of events, the great plot of which I had been the pivot was covered up and forgotten; scarce a memory of it remained. The curtain of dark night was closing in upon the history of my ancient Race; its very Gods were tottering to their fall; I could already, in the spirit, hear the shriek of the Roman eagles as they flapped their wings ...

— Cleopatra • H. Rider Haggard

... her yearly excess of from one million and a half to two million births over deaths, with the development of her industries and the formation of important commercial centres, progressed very rapidly and was about to become the pivot of European politics. ...

— Peaceless Europe • Francesco Saverio Nitti

... a naturally balanced circle which mathematicians call the Horizon. Keeping this idea definitely in mind, if we imagine a line drawn from the northern side of the circumference (N) to the side which lies above the southern half of the axis (S), and from here another line obliquely up to the pivot at the summit, beyond the stars composing the Great Bear (the pole star P), we shall doubtless see that we have in the heaven a triangular figure like that of the musical instrument which ...

— Ten Books on Architecture • Vitruvius

... actuates cat's-eye shutter, which controls amount of light admitted to right half of instrument. Its shaft carries index-hand over dial. H, FIELD-HOLDER: retains sample and standard white in same plane, and isolates them. Is hinged upon lower edge, and secured by pivot clamp. M, MIRROR: permits observation of the isolated halves of the holder, bearing standard white and the color to be measured. Should be clean and free from dust on both sides of central partition. ...

— A Color Notation - A measured color system, based on the three qualities Hue, - Value and Chroma • Albert H. Munsell

... of the ears and eyes running down into the heart is constantly being sounded out in the old Book. A famous bit in Isaiah puts it very clearly, and becomes a sort of pivot passage of all others of this sort. That fine-grained, intense-spirited young Hebrew was caught in the temple one day by a sight of God. That wondrous sight held him with unyielding grip through all the after years. With the sight came the voice, and ...

— Quiet Talks about Jesus • S. D. Gordon

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