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