ELEVATOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does elevator mean? 

• ELEVATOR (noun)
  The noun ELEVATOR has 2 senses:

1. lifting device consisting of a platform or cage that is raised and lowered mechanically in a vertical shaft in order to move people from one floor to another in a building

2. the airfoil on the tailplane of an aircraft that makes it ascend or descend

  Familiarity information: ELEVATOR used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ELEVATOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lifting device consisting of a platform or cage that is raised and lowered mechanically in a vertical shaft in order to move people from one floor to another in a building

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

elevator; lift

Hypernyms ("elevator" is a kind of...):

lifting device (a device for lifting heavy loads)

Meronyms (parts of "elevator"):

car; elevator car (where passengers ride up and down)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "elevator"):

dumbwaiter; food elevator (a small elevator used to convey food (or other goods) from one floor of a building to another)

freight elevator; service elevator (an elevator designed for carrying freight)

paternoster (a type of lift having a chain of open compartments that move continually in an endless loop so that (agile) passengers can step on or off at each floor)

Holonyms ("elevator" is a part of...):

building; edifice (a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place)

Derivation:

elevate (raise from a lower to a higher position)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The airfoil on the tailplane of an aircraft that makes it ascend or descend

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("elevator" is a kind of...):

aerofoil; airfoil; control surface; surface (a device that provides reactive force when in motion relative to the surrounding air; can lift or control a plane in flight)

Holonyms ("elevator" is a part of...):

horizontal tail (the horizontal stabilizer and elevator in the tail assembly of an aircraft)

 Context examples 

Scientists think that dust-trapped water vapor may be riding them like an elevator to space, where solar radiation breaks apart their molecules.

(Global Storms on Mars Launch Dust Towers Into the Sky, NASA)

They usually avoid elevators, bridges, and public places.

(Agoraphobia, NCI Dictionary)

It was a duplex that also offered an elevator, and inside the apartment, a spiral staircase linked the upstairs bedrooms from the large living room.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Examples of common phobias include fear of spiders, flying in an airplane, elevators, heights, enclosed rooms, crowded public places, and embarrassing oneself in front of other people.

(Phobia, NCI Dictionary)

But during an average day, parts of your skin may brush surfaces in stores, elevators, and restrooms; get nicked by a kitchen knife; be washed with rain; rest on a gym mat; and be slobbered on by a dog.

(Skin microbes fairly stable over time, NIH)

But especially intriguing is the possibility that dust towers act as "space elevators" for other material, transporting them through the atmosphere.

(Global Storms on Mars Launch Dust Towers Into the Sky, NASA)

"Come to lunch some day," he suggested, as we groaned down in the elevator.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

"Keep your hands off the lever," snapped the elevator boy.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

The door that I pushed open on the advice of an elevator boy was marked "The Swastika Holding Company" and at first there didn't seem to be any one inside.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

"I'm going to have the McKees come up," she announced as we rose in the elevator. "And of course I got to call up my sister, too."

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)