Search Result for "slide_rule":
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. analog computer consisting of a handheld instrument used for rapid calculations; have been replaced by pocket calculators;
[syn: slide rule, slipstick]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Slide \Slide\, n. [AS. sl[imac]de.] 1. The act of sliding; as, a slide on the ice. [1913 Webster] 2. Smooth, even passage or progress. [1913 Webster] A better slide into their business. --Bacon. [1913 Webster] 3. That on which anything moves by sliding. Specifically: (a) An inclined plane on which heavy bodies slide by the force of gravity, esp. one constructed on a mountain side for conveying logs by sliding them down. (b) A surface of ice or snow on which children slide for amusement. [1913 Webster] 4. That which operates by sliding. Specifically: (a) A cover which opens or closes an aperture by sliding over it. (b) (Mach.) A moving piece which is guided by a part or parts along which it slides. (c) A clasp or brooch for a belt, or the like. [1913 Webster] 5. A plate or slip of glass on which is a picture or delineation to be exhibited by means of a magic lantern, stereopticon, or the like; a plate on which is an object to be examined with a microscope. [1913 Webster] 6. The descent of a mass of earth, rock, or snow down a hill or mountain side; as, a land slide, or a snow slide; also, the track of bare rock left by a land slide. [1913 Webster] 7. (Geol.) A small dislocation in beds of rock along a line of fissure. --Dana. [1913 Webster] 8. (Mus.) (a) A grace consisting of two or more small notes moving by conjoint degrees, and leading to a principal note either above or below. (b) An apparatus in the trumpet and trombone by which the sounding tube is lengthened and shortened so as to produce the tones between the fundamental and its harmonics. [1913 Webster] 9. (Phonetics) A sound which, by a gradual change in the position of the vocal organs, passes imperceptibly into another sound. [1913 Webster] 10. (Steam Engine) (a) Same as Guide bar, under Guide. (b) A slide valve. [1913 Webster] Slide box (Steam Engine), a steam chest. See under Steam. Slide lathe, an engine lathe. See under Lathe. Slide rail, a transfer table. See under Transfer. Slide rest (Turning lathes), a contrivance for holding, moving, and guiding, the cutting tool, made to slide on ways or guides by screws or otherwise, and having compound motion. Slide rule, a mathematical instrument consisting of two parts, one of which slides upon the other, for the mechanical performance of addition and subtraction, and, by means of logarithmic scales, of multiplication and division. Slide valve. (a) Any valve which opens and closes a passageway by sliding over a port. (b) A particular kind of sliding valve, often used in steam engines for admitting steam to the piston and releasing it, alternately, having a cuplike cavity in its face, through which the exhaust steam passes. It is situated in the steam chest, and moved by the valve gear. It is sometimes called a D valve, -- a name which is also applied to a semicylindrical pipe used as a sliding valve. [1913 Webster] In the illustration, a is the cylinder of a steam engine, in which plays the piston p; b the steam chest, receiving its supply from the pipe i, and containing the slide valve s, which is shown as admitting steam to one end of the cylinder through the port e, and opening communication between the exhaust passage f and the port c, for the release of steam from the opposite end of the cylinder. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Slide rule \Slide" rule`\, n. a thin, flat calculating device consisting of a fixed outer piece and a movable middle piece. Both pieces are graduated in such a way (as, by a logarithmic scale) that multiplication, division, and other mathematical functions of an input variable may be rapidly determined by movement of the middle pieces to a location on one scale corresponding to the input value, and reading off the result on another scale. A movable window with a hairline assists in alignment of the scales. This device has been largely superseded by the electronic calculator, which has a greater precision than the slide rule. Also called colloquially slipstick. [PJC]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

slide rule n 1: analog computer consisting of a handheld instrument used for rapid calculations; have been replaced by pocket calculators [syn: slide rule, slipstick]