Thesaurus: cam

Related headwords

Definitions

1. n. A turning or sliding piece which, by the shape of its periphery or face, or a groove in its surface, imparts variable or intermittent motion to, or receives such motion from, a rod, lever, or block brought into sliding or rolling contact with it.
2. n. A curved wedge, movable about an axis, used for forcing or clamping two pieces together.
3. n. A projecting part of a wheel or other moving piece so shaped as to give alternate or variable motion to another piece against which it acts.
4. n. A ridge or mound of earth.
5. a. Crooked.
6. n. a rotating disk shaped to convert circular into linear motion
7. 1. (Med.) (a) A turning or sliding piece which, by the shape of its periphery or face, or a groove in its surface, imparts variable or intermittent motion to, or receives such motion from, a rod, lever, or block brought into sliding or rolling contact with it. (b) A curved wedge, movable about an axis, used for forcing or clamping two pieces together. (c) A projecting part of a wheel or other moving piece so shaped as to give alternate or variable motion to another piece against which its acts. Note: Cams are much used in machinery involving complicated, and irregular movements, as in the sewing machine, pin machine, etc. 2. A ridge or mound of earth. [Prow. Eng.] Wright. Cam wheel (Mach.), a wheel with one or more projections (cams) or depressions upon its periphery or upon its face; one which is set or shaped eccentrically, so that its revolutions impart a varied, reciprocating, or intermittent motion. Crooked. [Obs.]
8. Crooked. [Obs.]
9. n:100 n. a river in east central England that flows past Cambridge to join the Ouse River n. a rotating disk shaped to convert circular into linear motion