capstan

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“
Commodore Kendall had placed himself in position to watch the movement, and the officers in charge had pinned their eyes wide open, fully resolved that the authors of the trouble should not escape a second time Directly abaft the capstan was the fore-hatch, over which lay the path of those who walked around at the bars.

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Definitions (15)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun Nautical An apparatus used for hoisting weights, consisting of a vertical spool-shaped cylinder that is rotated manually or by machine and around which a cable is wound.
  2. noun A small cylindrical shaft used to drive magnetic tape at a constant speed in a tape recorder.

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Examples (50)

  • He ran over and released the lock on the capstan, and the chain's own weight dragged it down over the side rail. —  Asimov'sSF,October-November2007
  • A small, strong raft, it may be forty feet square, with an upright windlass in its centre, called a capstan, is fastened to some part of the boom. —  A Study Of Hawthorne
  • Round went the men at the capstan, the merry pipe sounding, and under all sail the Dragon stood down Channel. —  The Three Commanders
  • As the men went stamping round the capstan, a loud crash was heard The messenger has given way, sir," cried Mr Tobin, the first-lieutenant. —  The Voyages of the Ranger and Crusader And what befell their Passengers and Crews.
  • Commodore Kendall had placed himself in position to watch the movement, and the officers in charge had pinned their eyes wide open, fully resolved that the authors of the trouble should not escape a second time Directly abaft the capstan was the fore-hatch, over which lay the path of those who walked around at the bars. —  Down the Rhine Young America in Germany
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Norman French, from Old Provençal cabestan, from cabestre, noose, from Latin capistrum, halter, probably from capere, to seize; see kap- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Formerly also capstane, capstand (simulating stand), capstern (simulating stern), once capstring (simulating string), capisten, caston (dial. capsal, q. v.); = Middle Dutch kapestant, Dutch kaapstander (simulating kaapstander, a lighthouse, from kaap, Middle Dutch kape, = English cape, + stander, axletree, Middle Dutch stander, standaerd, a column, pillar, mill-post, standard, Dutch standaard, a banner, = English standard) = German kabestan, from French cabestan = Provencal cabestan, from Spanish cabestrante, usually cabrestante (= Portuguese cabrestante) (simulating cabra, a goat, an engine for throwing stones, + estante, a shelf, nautical a prop of a cross-beam, as adjective fixed, literally standing, from Latin stan(t-)s, present participle of stare, stand), a capstan, prob. from cabestrar, from Latin capistrare, tie with a halter, from capistrum (later Spanish cabestro = Portuguese cabresto = Italian capestro = Provencal cabestre = Old French chevestre, French chevêtre), a halter, muzzle, band, from capere, hold: see capistrum and capable.
 

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/ˈkæpstən/
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