parallel rulers


plural noun
  1. a pair of straightedges connected by two pivoted crosspieces of equal length so as to be parallel at all times, used for various navigational purposes, especially for transferring the bearing of a plotted course to a compass rose.

Origin of parallel rulers

1
First recorded in 1695–1705

Words Nearby parallel rulers

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use parallel rulers in a sentence

  • I pricked that place off on the chart with my dividers, and with my parallel rulers found that west-by-south was the true course.

  • Captain Ponsberry said no more, but threw down his parallel rulers and his pencil.

    At the Fall of Port Arthur | Edward Stratemeyer
  • The parallel rulers need no explanation except for the way in which they are used on a chart.

    Lectures in Navigation | Ernest Gallaudet Draper
  • It is just as accurate, too, if you lay the distances off carefully with the dividers and parallel rulers.

    Lectures in Navigation | Ernest Gallaudet Draper
  • Hence we find him first making brass scales, parallel-rulers and quadrants.

    James Watt | Andrew Carnegie