Definition of "gimbal"

gimbal

/ˈd͡ʒɪmbəl/

noun
plural gimbals
1. A device for suspending something, such as a ship's compass, so that it will remain level when its support is tipped.
  Quotations
  The lamp wriggled in its gimbals, the barometer swung in circles, the table altered its slant every moment […]
  1902, Joseph Conrad, chapter II, in Typhoon‎
  He lifted the chronometer off the gimbals on which it was slung in the mahogany case and showed the number engraved upon the bottom.
  1934, A. E. W. Mason, “The Chronometer,” Chapter II, in Dilemmas, London: Hodder & Stoughton
verb
third-person singular simple present gimbals, present participle gimballing or gimbaling, simple past and past participle gimballed or gimbaled
1. (transitive) To suspend using a gimbal or gimbals.
  Quotations
  […] he conned his course in masterly fashion by aid of the roller-map, protected by its transparent, rainproof casing, or the compass, clock, altimeter, and other instruments gimballed in the wooden frame in front of the pilot’s seat.
  1918, Richard Dehan (Clotilde Graves), That Which Hath Wings, New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Chapter 32
2. (transitive, aerospace) To move a reaction engine about on a gimbal so as to obtain pitching and yawing correction moments.
3. (intransitive) To swivel, move on an axis.

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