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escapement
(e skāp′mənt, i-)
noun
- Rare the action of escaping or a means of escape
- the part in a mechanical clock or watch that controls the speed and regularity of the balance wheel or pendulum, and thereby of the entire mechanism, by the movement of a notched wheel (), one tooth of which is permitted to escape from the detaining catch at a time
- a ratchet mechanism, esp. one in typewriters that regulates the horizontal movement of the carriage
Origin: escape + -ment, after Fr échappement
See escapement in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
- A mechanism consisting in general of an escape wheel and an anchor, used especially in timepieces to control movement of the wheel and to provide periodic energy impulses to a pendulum or balance.
- A mechanism, as in a typewriter, that controls the lateral movement of the carriage.
- a. An escape.b. A means or way of escape.
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