rack and pinion


nounMachinery, Automotive.
  1. See under rack1 (def. 5a).

Other definitions for rack-and-pinion (2 of 2)

rack-and-pinion
[ rak-uhn-pin-yuhn ]

adjective
  1. of or relating to a mechanism in which a rack engages a pinion: rack-and-pinion steering.

Origin of rack-and-pinion

2
First recorded in 1900–05

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

How to use rack and pinion in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for rack-and-pinion

rack-and-pinion

noun
  1. a device for converting rotary into linear motion and vice versa, in which a gearwheel (the pinion) engages with a flat toothed bar (the rack)

adjective
  1. (of a type of steering gear in motor vehicles) having a track rod with a rack along part of its length that engages with a pinion attached to the steering column

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