Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A device or structure, such as a drawbridge, counterbalanced so that when one end is lowered the other is raised.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An arrangement in bridges by which one portion balances another.
- noun A form of bailing-scoop.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun In mechanics, an apparatus on the principle of the seesaw, in which one end rises as the other falls.
- noun a counterpoise or balanced drawbridge, which is opened by sinking the counterpoise and thus lifting the footway into the air.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun a
counterbalanced structure having one end that rises as the other lowers
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a structure or device in which one end is counterbalanced by the other (on the principle of the seesaw)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But if you look at it, it's not a so-called bascule bridge.
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It’s called a bascule, and it lifts like a kind of gigantic one-sided see-saw.
Conqueror's Moon May, Julian 2003
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The second bascule bridge is the only way to provide dedicated HOV/Transit lanes across the Montlake Cut.
Neighborhood Activists Still Oppose State’s 520 Option « PubliCola 2010
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Having a second bascule bridge can allow for dedicated HOV/Transit lanes across the Montlake Cut.
Neighborhood Activists Still Oppose State’s 520 Option « PubliCola 2010
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The second bascule bridge is the only way to provide dedicated HOV/Transit lanes across the Montlake Cut.
Neighborhood Activists Still Oppose State’s 520 Option « PubliCola 2010
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The 1925 bascule bridge is a wonderful landmark, and its new mate should be given equal care in its design.
Neighborhood Activists Still Oppose State’s 520 Option « PubliCola 2010
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In Mystic, view to the south from the bascule bridge (1922) over the Mystic River.
"...once we're out amongst the shadows." sovay 2010
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To expect that the existing bascule bridge can handle our needs for the next 90 years is not realistic, especially when the current bridge is already the greatest constraint to transit, pedestrians and bicycles going across the Montlake Cut.
Neighborhood Activists Still Oppose State’s 520 Option « PubliCola 2010
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Also note the second bascule bridge, and lots of Transit/HOV lanes (and the resulting added width).
Despite Decline in Driving, City Plans Assume 1 Percent Annual Traffic Growth « PubliCola 2010
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The existing bascule bridge has indeed been recognized as a bottleneck for decades, but the “benefits” of a second drawbridge in this location remain unknown, unanalyzed in isolation, and the alternatives are yet to be explored.
Neighborhood Activists Still Oppose State’s 520 Option « PubliCola 2010
mialuthien commented on the word bascule
bascule – the natural round arc a horse's body takes as it goes over a jump
July 14, 2008
jmjarmstrong commented on the word bascule
JM is fabricating a miniscule bascule from drawings that won't fall down.
September 12, 2010
qms commented on the word bascule
When Ernest was young and in school
The boy was a nerd en capsule.
Since one of his whims
Was strange synonyms
A seesaw he'd call a bascule.
Find out more about Ernest Bafflewit
June 22, 2016