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crossstaff

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cross-staff

[kraws-staf, -stahf, kros-]
–noun, plural -staffs, -staves. Astronomy.
an instrument for measuring the angle of elevation of heavenly bodies, consisting of a calibrated staff with another shorter staff perpendicular to and sliding on it.


Origin:
1400–50, for an earlier sense; late ME
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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