pendulum

[pen-juh-luhm, pen-duh-] Example Sentences Origin

pen·du·lum

[pen-juh-luhm, pen-duh-]
noun
1.
a body so suspended from a fixed point as to move to and fro by the action of gravity and acquired momentum.
2.
Horology. a swinging lever, weighted at the lower end, for regulating the speed of a clock mechanism.

Origin:
1650–60; < Neo-Latin, noun use of neuter of Latin pendulus pendulous

pen·du·lum·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Pendulum is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Example Sentences
  • Medium term, the market's pendulum will swing from this extreme to the opposite.
  • After nearly a century stuck on the side of the body, the pendulum has recently cut a wide arc toward the mind.
  • In one sense, it is a simple case of the pendulum swinging back.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
pendulum (ˈpɛndjʊləm)
 
n
1.  a body mounted so that it can swing freely under the influence of gravity. It is either a bob hung on a light thread (simple pendulum) or a more complex structure (compound pendulum)
2.  such a device used to regulate a clockwork mechanism
3.  something that changes its position, attitude, etc fairly regularly: the pendulum of public opinion
 
[C17: from Latin penduluspendulous]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

pendulum
1660, from Mod.L. pendulum (1643), properly neut. of L. adj. pendulus "hanging down," from pendere "to hang" (see pendant).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
pendulum   (pěn'jə-ləm)  Pronunciation Key 
A mass hung from a fixed support so that it is able to swing freely under the influence of gravity. Since the motion of pendulums is regular and periodic, they are often used to regulate the action of various devices, especially clocks.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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