PIVOT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pivot mean? 

• PIVOT (noun)
  The noun PIVOT has 3 senses:

1. the person in a rank around whom the others wheel and maneuver

2. axis consisting of a short shaft that supports something that turns

3. the act of turning on (or as if on) a pivot

  Familiarity information: PIVOT used as a noun is uncommon.

• PIVOT (verb)
  The verb PIVOT has 1 sense:

1. turn on a pivot

  Familiarity information: PIVOT used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PIVOT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The person in a rank around whom the others wheel and maneuver

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

pivot; pivot man

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

marcher; parader (walks with regular or stately step)

Derivation:

pivotal (being of crucial importance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Axis consisting of a short shaft that supports something that turns

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

pin; pivot

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

axis; axis of rotation (the center around which something rotates)

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

fulcrum (the pivot about which a lever turns)

pintle (a pin or bolt forming the pivot of a hinge)

Derivation:

pivot (turn on a pivot)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of turning on (or as if on) a pivot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

the golfer went to the driving range to practice his pivot

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

rotary motion; rotation (the act of rotating as if on an axis)

Derivation:

pivot (turn on a pivot)

• PIVOT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they pivot    ... he / she / it pivots   
Past simple: pivoted   
Past participle: pivoted   
-ing form: pivoting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Turn on a pivot

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

pivot; swivel

Hypernyms (to "pivot" is one way to...):

turn (change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pivot"):

pirouette (do a pirouette, usually as part of a dance)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

pivot (the act of turning on (or as if on) a pivot)

pivot (axis consisting of a short shaft that supports something that turns)

 Context examples 

He paced swiftly round several times, with little, elastic, menacing steps, whilst the smith pivoted slowly to correspond.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The crackling turned into a snapping, the sled pivoting and the runners slipping and grating several inches to the side.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

A pivoting roller or wheel designed to attach to an object to make it movable.

(Caster Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

Martin hooked with his left, landing on the pivoting man with the weight of his body behind the blow.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Cherokee might well have been disembowelled had he not quickly pivoted on his grip and got his body off of White Fang's and at right angles to it.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Pivoting on his hind legs, and snapping and gashing, he was everywhere at once, presenting a front which was apparently unbroken so swiftly did he whirl and guard from side to side.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Quite as a matter of course he ducked, and the fist flew harmlessly past, pivoting the man who had driven it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The wolf whirled about, pivoting on his hind legs after the fashion of Joe and of all cornered husky dogs, snarling and bristling, clipping his teeth together in a continuous and rapid succession of snaps.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Her laughter, her gestures, her assertions became more violently affected moment by moment and as she expanded the room grew smaller around her until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot through the smoky air.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)