Countershaft
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Synonym of jackshaft (“mechanical component for rotational force”).
"Instead of the pistons driving through the connecting-rods directly on to the wheels that carry the weight of the engine, the Drachenfels piston and connecting-rod drove on to a countershaft which carried two small cog wheels. The latter engaged with two larger gears, between which, and on the same shaft, was the pinion to engage with the rack rail."
- 1 Synonym of jackshaft.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Instead of the pistons driving through the connecting-rods directly on to the wheels that carry the weight of the engine, the Drachenfels piston and connecting-rod drove on to a countershaft which carried two small cog wheels. The latter engaged with two larger gears, between which, and on the same shaft, was the pinion to engage with the rack rail."
Etymology
From counter- + shaft.
More for "countershaft"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.