camshaft

[kam-shaft, -shahft]

cam·shaft

[kam-shaft, -shahft]
noun
a shaft bearing integral cams.

Origin:
1875–80; cam + shaft
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To camshaft

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Camshaft is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
Collins
World English Dictionary
camshaft (ˈkæmˌʃɑːft)
 
n
a shaft having one or more cams attached to it, esp one used to operate the valves of an internal-combustion engine

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

camshaft

in internal-combustion engines, rotating shaft with attached disks of irregular shape (the cams), which actuate the intake and exhaust valves of the cylinders. The cams and the camshaft are usually formed as a unit, with the cams set at angles so as to open and close the valves in a prescribed sequence as the cams rotate. A separate camshaft for each row of cylinders is driven by gears or chains from the crankshaft.

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

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT