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gyroscope

gyroscope

11 6.4
A device with a wheel spinning fast that keeps things like bicycles or planes steady and shows turning
  • noun
  • /ˈjaɪrəˌskoʊp/
  • Specialized
translation icon : giroscopio
  • Andrew Corp. has developed a laser-based gyroscope sensor called the Autogyro, which operates without any moving parts.
  • gyroscope sensor
  • gyroscopes and accelerometers

So let's again go to a top view of our gyroscope.

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Examples

  • In smartphones, a gyroscope helps detect the orientation of the device.

  • Andrew Corp. is selling the fiber-optic gyroscope to navigation system developers in North America, Europe, and Asia.

    Academic text (1994)
  • But you do need the gyroscope to make it work well.

  • Eventually, a gyroscope was used to get it to fly fairly straight.

    Academic text (2003)
  • This bomb has a tiny gyroscope inside.

  • The gyroscope is off, the thrust mechanism is broken.

  • A 1-millimeter-square silicon gyroscope drifts between only 10 and 100 degrees per hour.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Engineers are thus designing yaw-rate gyroscope sensors that could be sold for less than $100 apiece.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The small rectangular box attached to each probe is a rate gyroscope used for angular velocity measurement.

    Academic text (1995)
  • We had studied airfoils and gyroscopes in class, and that primed my interest in boomerangs.

    Academic text (1993)

Synonyms

gyro
vsgyroscope
  • Specialized
8 7.9

A spinning wheel that helps a vehicle or machine stay steady and keep its direction

is used both to maintain balance and to measure rotation
gyrometer
vsgyroscope
  • Specialized
9.8

A device that measures how fast something turns

can maintain balance as well as measure rotation

How Stable

gyroscope
  • Specialized
11 6.4
stabilizer
  • US
7 4.1
leveler
  • US
1 3.3
balancer
1 4.6
wobbler
1 8.2

Surface Forms

gyroscope singular
gyroscopes plural

Morphology

gyroscope = scope (opaque) = gyro + scope

Although the parts suggest a rotating viewing instrument, the meaning of this specialized scientific device is not directly predictable from the component forms for most learners.

Etymology

Gyroscope comes from the Greek parts gyro- 'turn' or 'circle' and -scope 'to look' or 'watch', the same -scope in telescope. So a gyroscope is like a 'watcher of turns' and it watches rotation to help keep balance or measure direction.