ELEVATOR

elevator, lift

(noun) 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

elevator

(noun) the airfoil on the tailplane of an aircraft that makes it ascend or descend

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

elevator (plural elevators)

Anything that raises or uplifts.

(US) A permanent construction with a built-in platform that is lifted vertically, used to transport people and goods.

A silo used for storing wheat, corn or other grain (grain elevator)

(aeronautics) A control surface of an aircraft responsible for controling the pitching motion of the machine.

A dental instrument used to pry up ("elevate") teeth in difficult extractions, or depressed portions of bone.

(anatomy) Any muscle that serves to raise a part of the body, such as the leg or the eye.

A type of shoe having an insert lift to make the wearer appear taller.

Synonyms

• (permanent construction): lift (British English; Australian English)

Anagrams

• overlate

Source: Wiktionary

El"e*va`tor, n. Etym: [L., one who raises up, a deliverer: cf. F. élévateur.]

Definition: 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, and boot, the boxes in which the upper pulley, belt, and lower pulley, respectively, run in a grain elevator.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition