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rack and pinion
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noun Machinery, Automotive.
See under rack1 (def. 5a).
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Words nearby rack and pinion
racing form, racing skate, racism, racist, rack, rack and pinion, rack and ruin, go to, rackboard, rack car, racket, racketeer
Other definitions for rack and pinion (2 of 2)
rack-and-pinion
[ rak-uhn-pin-yuhn ]
/ ˈræk ənˈpɪn yən /
adjective
of or relating to a mechanism in which a rack engages a pinion: rack-and-pinion steering.
Origin of rack-and-pinion
First recorded in 1900–05
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use rack and pinion in a sentence
A cheap instrument has an open face and plain frame, with sliding vernier instead of rack-and-pinion motion.
A Treatise on Meteorological Instruments|Henry NegrettiNo odour, no teeth-disturbing grind of rack-and-pinion, no trumpeting, with that machine!
Buried Alive: A Tale of These Days|Arnold BennettA rack-and-pinion movement for elevating or lowering the sliding pillar would be useful.
British Dictionary definitions for rack and pinion
rack-and-pinion
noun
a device for converting rotary into linear motion and vice versa, in which a gearwheel (the pinion) engages with a flat toothed bar (the rack)
adjective
(of a type of steering gear in motor vehicles) having a track rod with a rack along part of its length that engages with a pinion attached to the steering column
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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