Adjacent Words

Elevator definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

EL'EVATOR, n. One who raises, lifts or exalts.
1. In anatomy, a muscle which serves to raise a part of the body, as the lip or the eye.
2. A surgical instrument for raising a depressed portion of a bone.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: lifting device consisting of a platform or cage that is raised and lowered mechanically in a vertical shaft in order to move people from one floor to another in a building [syn: elevator, lift]
2: the airfoil on the tailplane of an aircraft that makes it ascend or descend

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1646 1. one that raises or lifts something up: as a. an endless belt or chain conveyor with cleats, scoops, or buckets for raising material b. a cage or platform and its hoisting machinery for conveying people or things to different levels c. grain elevator 2. a movable auxiliary airfoil usually attached to the tail plane of an airplane for controlling pitch — see airplane illustration

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a hoisting machine. 2 Aeron. the movable part of a tailplane for changing the pitch of an aircraft. 3 US a = LIFT n. 3. b a place for lifting and storing quantities of grain. 4 that which elevates, esp. a muscle that raises a limb. Etymology: mod.L (as ELEVATE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Elevator El"e*va`tor, n. (A["e]ronautics) A movable plane or group of planes used to control the altitude or fore-and-aft poise or inclination of an airship or flying machine.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Elevator El"e*va`tor, n. [L., one who raises up, a deliverer: cf. F. ['e]l['e]vateur.] One who, or that which, raises or lifts up anything; as: (a) A mechanical contrivance, usually an endless belt or chain with a series of scoops or buckets, for transferring grain to an upper loft for storage. (b) A cage or platform and the hoisting machinery in a hotel, warehouse, mine, etc., for conveying persons, goods, etc., to or from different floors or levels; -- called in England a lift; the cage or platform itself. (c) A building for elevating, storing, and discharging, grain. (d) (Anat.) A muscle which serves to raise a part of the body, as the leg or the eye. (e) (Surg.) An instrument for raising a depressed portion of a bone. Elevator head, leg, & boot, the boxes in which the upper pulley, belt, and lower pulley, respectively, run in a grain elevator.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(elevators) An elevator is a device that carries people up and down inside buildings. (AM; in BRIT, use lift) N-COUNT