What does "detent" mean?

That which locks or unlocks a movement; a catch (stopping mechanism), pawl, or dog; especially, in clockwork, the catch which locks and unlocks the wheelwork in striking.

What is a synonym for "detent"?

Common synonyms include: click, dog, pawl, pawl.

Detent

//dɪˈtɛnt// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
That which locks or unlocks a movement; a catch (stopping mechanism), pawl, or dog; especially, in clockwork, the catch which locks and unlocks the wheelwork in striking.
"A UHF tuner having 70 detent positions with fine tuning capability at all locations. Coarse tuning is accomplished via a toothed, detented disk and a spirally-extending rim having a follower lever operable therewith."
2
a hinged catch that fits into a notch of a ratchet to move a wheel forward or prevent it from moving backward wordnet

Verb

1
The action of locking or unlocking movement by way of a detent mechanism

Synonyms

All synonyms

click dog pawl pawl

Example

More examples

"A UHF tuner having 70 detent positions with fine tuning capability at all locations. Coarse tuning is accomplished via a toothed, detented disk and a spirally-extending rim having a follower lever operable therewith."

Etymology

From French détente, from Latin tendō (“to stretch”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.