Polyspast
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A machine consisting of many pulleys
"The Bishop of Chrysopolis, his Majesty's former tutor, consecrated the foundation-stone, which was suspended from two elegant polyspasts; the Emperor himself laid it."
- 2 A machine of many pulleys, formerly used to reduce dislocation
- 3 A windlass with many pulleys and truckles
Example
More examples"The Bishop of Chrysopolis, his Majesty's former tutor, consecrated the foundation-stone, which was suspended from two elegant polyspasts; the Emperor himself laid it."
Etymology
From Latin polyspaston (“hoisting-tackle with many pulleys”), from Ancient Greek πολύσπαστον (polúspaston, “compound pulley”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.