GIMBAL
gimbal
(noun) an appliance that allows an object (such as a ship’s compass) to remain horizontal even as its support tips
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
gimbal (plural gimbals)
A device for suspending something, such as a ship's compass, so that it will remain level when its support is tipped.
Verb
gimbal (third-person singular simple present gimbals, present participle gimbaling or gimballing, simple past and past participle gimbaled or gimballed)
(transitive) To suspend using a gimbal or gimbals.
(transitive, aerospace) To move a reaction engine about on a gimbal so as to obtain pitching and yawing correction moments.
(intransitive) To swivel, move on an axis.
Source: Wiktionary
Gim"bal, or; Gim"bals (, n. Etym: [See Gimmal, n.]
Definition: A contrivance for permitting a body to incline freely in all
directions, or for suspending anything, as a barometer, ship's
compass, chronometer, etc., so that it will remain plumb, or level,
when its support is tipped, as by the rolling of a ship. It consists
of a ring in which the body can turn on an axis through a diameter of
the ring, while the ring itself is so pivoted to its support that it
can turn about a diameter at right angles to the first. Gimbal joint
(Mach.), a universal joint embodying the principle of the gimbal.
– Gimbal ring, a single gimbal, as that by which the cockeye of the
upper millstone is supported on the spindle.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition