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derrick
(der′ik)
noun
- a large apparatus for lifting and moving heavy objects: it consists of a long beam pivoted at the base of a vertical, stationary beam and moved by ropes running on pulleys
- ☆ a tall, tapering framework, as over an oil well, to support drilling machinery, etc.
Origin: after Thos. Derrick, London hangman of the early 17th c.: first applied to a gallows
See derrick in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
- A machine for hoisting and moving heavy objects, consisting of a movable boom equipped with cables and pulleys and connected to the base of an upright stationary beam.
- A tall framework over a drilled hole, especially an oil well, used to support boring equipment or hoist and lower lengths of pipe.
Origin:
Origin: Obsolete derick, hangman, gallows
Origin: , after Derick, 16th-century English hangman
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