profiler
(ˈprəʊfaɪlə(r))
[f. profile v. + -er1.]
1. A profile machine.
| 1904 Electr. World & Engin. 19 Mar. 581/2 (heading) Motor driven profiler. 1927 Daily Tel. 11 May 18/3 (Advt.), Gear cutters, Profilers, Radials, &c. 1957 W. H. Armstrong Machine Tools for Metal Cutting vii. 156 The distinguishing feature of a profiler is a profiling unit that is mounted on a spindlehead which may be fed transversely. 1963 Jones & Schubert Engin. Encycl. (ed. 3) 1007 Most of the profilers used at the present time are hand-operated, so far as the feeding movements are concerned. |
2. An instrument for measuring profiles, esp. of strata of rock or the sea bed.
| 1959 World Oil Apr. 107/2 A versatile new marine exploration device..has been applied recently to problems in connection with petroleum exploration... Known as the..continuous seismic profiler, the technique essentially is a continuous sound reflection device. 1969 J. W. Mavor Voyage to Atlantis v. 104 We carried five basic instrument systems. First, a sonar system..to measure depth. Three instrument systems, the seismic profiler, the magnetometer and the gravimeter. Finally, [etc.]. 1972 J. G. Dennis Structural Geol. xvi. 368 Most present-day profilers work with sound sources such as high voltage sparks or air guns. 1973 Nature 22 June 455/2 Seismic reflexion profiler data reveal a distinct basement ridge. 1975 McGraw-Hill Yearbk. Sci. & Technol. 291/2 Velocity shears top to bottom are given by a free-falling electromagnetic profiler... The instrument measures minute voltages induced by the flow of sea water in the Earth's weak magnetic field. 1978 Nature 7 Dec. 601/2 Temperature profiles were taken from the RV Oceanographer with the microstructure profiler (MSP), a winged instrument which falls freely through the water measuring temperature, pressure, and conductivity. |