Definition of Capsten
Cap"stan (?), n. [F.
cabestan, fr. Sp. cabestrante, cabrestante,
fr. cabestrar to bind with a halter, fr.
cabestrohalter, fr. L. capistrum halter, fr.
capere to hold (see Capacious); or perh. the
Spanish is fr. L. caper goat + stans, p. pr. of
stare to stand; cf. F. chèvre she-goat, also
a machine for raising heavy weights.] A vertical cleated
drum or cylinder, revolving on an upright spindle, and surmounted
by a drumhead with sockets for bars or levers. It is much used,
especially on shipboard, for moving or raising heavy weights or
exerting great power by traction upon a rope or cable, passing
around the drum. It is operated either by steam power or by a
number of men walking around the capstan, each pushing on the end
of a lever fixed in its socket. [Sometimes spelt
Capstern, but improperly.]
Capstan bar, one of the long bars or
levers by which the capstan is worked; a handspike.. --
To pawl the capstan, to drop the pawls so
that they will catch in the notches of the pawl ring, and prevent
the capstan from turning back. -- To rig the
capstan, to prepare the for use, by putting the
bars in the sockets. -- To surge the
capstan, to slack the tension of the rope or cable
wound around it.
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
- A vertical cleated drum or cylinder, revolving on an upright spindle, and surmounted by a drumhead with sockets for bars or levers. It is much used, especially on shipboard, for moving or raising heavy weights or exerting great power by traction upon a rope or cable, passing around the drum. It is operated either by steam power or by a number of men walking around the capstan, each pushing on the end of a lever fixed in its socket.
- The Nuttall Encyclopedia
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