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Derrick

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Derrick
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der⋅rick

  [der-ik]
Use Derrick in a Sentence
–noun
1. Machinery. a jib crane having a boom hinged near the base of the mast so as to rotate about the mast, for moving a load toward or away from the mast by raising or lowering the boom.
2. Also called oil derrick. the towerlike framework over an oil well or the like.
3. a boom for lifting cargo, pivoted at its inner end to a ship's mast or kingpost, and raised and supported at its outer end by topping lifts.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
4. Machinery. luff.
Origin:
orig. a hangman, the gallows, after the surname of a well-known Tyburn hangman, ca. 1600
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Derrick
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der·rick   (děr'ĭk)   
n.  

  1. A machine for hoisting and moving heavy objects, consisting of a movable boom equipped with cables and pulleys and connected to the base of an upright stationary beam.

  2. A tall framework over a drilled hole, especially an oil well, used to support boring equipment or hoist and lower lengths of pipe.


[Obsolete derick, hangman, gallows, after Derick, 16th-century English hangman.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

derrick 
c.1600, originally "hangman," then "a gallows," then "hoist, crane" (1727), from surname of a hangman at Tyburn gallows, London, c.1606-1608, often referred to in contemporary theater. The name represents a late borrowing from the Low Countries (cf. Du. Diederik) of O.H.G. Theodric.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

derrick

apparatus with a tackle rigged at the end of a beam for hoisting and lowering. Its name is derived from that of a famous early 17th-century hangman of Tyburn, Eng. In the petroleum industry, a derrick consisting of a framework or tower of wood or steel is erected over the deep drill holes of oil wells to support the tackle for boring, to raise and lower the drilling tools in the well, and to insert and remove the well casing or pipe. Similar smaller structures mounted on trucks are also called derricks. The derrick is a type of crane (q.v.).

Learn more about derrick with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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