detent

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. That which locks or unlocks a movement; a catch (stopping mechanism), pawl, or dog; especially, in clockwork, the catch which locks and unlocks the wheelwork in striking.
verb
  1. The action of locking or unlocking movement by way of a detent mechanism

Pronunciation

/dɪˈtɛnt/ /ˈdiːtɛnt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-detent.wav

Word forms

detent detents detenting detented

Etymology

From French détente, from Latin tendō (“to stretch”).

Related words

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.