Adjacent Words

Rotary definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RO'TARY, a. [L. rota, a wheel. L. curro.]
Turning, as a wheel on its axis; as rotary motion.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: relating to or characterized by rotation; "rotary dial"
2: describing a circle; moving in a circle; "the circular motion of the wheel" [syn: circular, rotary, orbitual] n
1: a road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island; "the accident blocked all traffic at the rotary" [syn: traffic circle, circle, rotary, roundabout]
2: electrical converter consisting of a synchronous machine that converts alternating to direct current or vice versa [syn: synchronous converter, rotary, rotary converter]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Medieval Latin rotarius, from Latin rota wheel Date: circa 1731 1. a. turning on an axis like a wheel b. taking place about an axis <rotary motion> 2. having an important part that turns on an axis <rotary cutter> 3. characterized by rotation 4. of, relating to, or being a press in which paper is printed by rotation in contact with a curved printing surface attached to a cylinder II. noun (plural -ries) Date: circa 1888 1. a rotary machine 2. a road junction formed around a central circle about which traffic moves in one direction only — called also circle, traffic circle

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. acting by rotation (rotary drill; rotary pump). --n. (pl. -ies) 1 a rotary machine. 2 US a traffic roundabout. 3 (Rotary) (in full Rotary International) a worldwide charitable society of businessmen, orig. named from members entertaining in rotation. Phrases and idioms: Rotary club a local branch of Rotary. rotary-wing (of an aircraft) deriving lift from rotary aerofoils. Etymology: med.L rotarius (as ROTA)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Rotary Ro"ta*ry, a. [L. rota a wheel. See Roll, v., and cf. barouche, Rodomontade, Rou['e], Round, a., Rowel.] Turning, as a wheel on its axis; pertaining to, or resembling, the motion of a wheel on its axis; rotatory; as, rotary motion. Rotary engine, steam engine in which the continuous rotation of the shaft is produced by the direct action of the steam upon rotating devices which serve as pistons, instead of being derived from a reciprocating motion, as in the ordinary engine; a steam turbine; -- called also rotatory engine. Rotary pump, a pump in which the fluid is impelled by rotating devices which take the place of reciprocating buckets or pistons. Rotary shears, shears, as for cloth, metal, etc., in which revolving sharp-edged or sharp-cornered wheels do the cutting. Rotary valve, a valve acting by continuous or partial rotation, as in the four-way cock.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. Rotary means turning or able to turn round a fixed point. ...turning linear into rotary motion. ADJ: ADJ n 2. Rotary is used in the names of some machines that have parts that turn round a fixed point. ...a rotary engine. ADJ: ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Whirling, rotating, rotatory, turning.

Moby Thesaurus

O-shaped, alternate, ambagious, ascending, axial, back, back-flowing, backhanded, backward, beating, carrefour, circling, circuitous, circular, circumgyratory, circumvolutory, cloverleaf, crossing, crosspoint, crossroad, crosswalk, crossway, cyclic, cyclonic, descending, deviating, deviative, devious, digressive, discursive, down-trending, downward, drifting, epochal, even, every other, excursive, flowing, fluent, flying, flyover, going, grade crossing, gulfy, gyral, gyrational, gyratory, gyrostatic, helical, indirect, intercrossing, intermittent, intersection, isochronal, level crossing, meandering, measured, metronomic, mounting, oblique, orbital, oscillatory, out-of-the-way, overcrossing, overpass, passing, periodical, plunging, progressive, pulsing, reciprocal, recurrent, recurring, reflowing, refluent, regressive, retrogressive, rhythmic, rising, rotational, rotatory, round, roundabout, running, rushing, seasonal, serial, sideward, sinking, soaring, spiral, steady, streaming, swirly, tornadic, traffic circle, trochilic, undercrossing, undulant, undulatory, up-trending, upward, vertiginous, viaduct, vortical, wavelike, wheeling, whirlabout, whirligig, whirlwindish, whirlwindy, whirly