Capstan
WordNet
noun
(1) A windlass rotated in a horizontal plane around a vertical axis; used on ships for weighing anchor or raising heavy sails
WiktionaryText
Etymology
cabestan, from cabestrante, cabrestante, from cabestrar to bind with a halter, from cabestrohalter, from capistrum halter, from capere to hold (see capacious); or perhaps the Spanish is from caper goat + -stans, present participle of stare to stand; confer chèvre she-goat, also a machine for raising heavy weights.
Noun
- 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.
- A rotating spindle used to move recording tape through the mechanism of a tape recorder.