gyro-
(ˈdʒaɪərə)
comb. form repr. Gr. γῦρο-ς in sense of ‘ring, circle, spiral’, as in: gyroceran (-ˈɒsərən) a. Conch. [Gr. κερατ-, κέρας horn], pertaining to the genus Gyroceras, typical of the family Gyroceratidæ of fossil nautiloid cephalopods having the whorls not contiguous; gyroceratite (-ˈsɛrətaɪt) Conch., a fossil cephalopod of the family Gyroceratidæ; hence gyroceratitic (-sɛrəˈtɪtɪk) a.; ˈgyrocopter [after helicopter], a kind of helicopter; now spec. a small, light, single-seater one (cf. autogiro); gyrodactyle (-ˈdæktɪl) Zool. [Gr. δάκτυλος finger], a trematode worm of the genus Gyrodactylus; ˈGyrodyne, the proprietary name for a type of helicopter which has a horizontal rotor for providing lift and one or more propellers for providing forward thrust; ˈgyrofrequency, the frequency with which a charged particle spirals about the lines of force of a magnetic field through which it is passing; ˈgyrograph (-grɑːf, -æ-) [Gr. -γραϕος writing, recording], an instrument for recording revolutions; ˈgyroplane= gyrocopter; ‖ ˌgyropsoˈriasis Med., psoriasis occurring in circular patches (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1886); gyˈropter (disused) [Gr. πτερόν wing], a rotary-wing aircraft; ˈgyrotiller, a type of cultivator in which the tines rotate about an axis; ˈgyrotrope (-trəʊp) Electr. [Gr. -τροπος turning] = commutator 1 a (ibid.).
| 1884 Science III. Feb. 123/2 The loosely coiled [shell] but with whorls not in contact, *gyroceratitic. |
| 1915 Aeronautics 9 June 385/1 The *gyrocopter is a variation of the helicopter operated by a rotary motor. 1934 W. Holtby Pavements at Anderby (1937) i. 25 The gyrocopter sailed over the rim of the wold and sank silently into the deep meadow. 1962 Britannica Bk. Yr. 1961 545/2 Among new scientific gadgets there was the gyrocopter, a rotorcraft having both drive to rotors and a normal propeller, and usually a very light single-seater craft. 1965 Kingston (Ont.) Whig Standard 21 Apr. 6/5 The club members hope to turn their gyrogliders into motorized gyrocopters. 1969 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 1 Apr. 19/2 Gyrocopters are against the law in Australia. Nobody may fly them, even..in the remoteness of his own cattle station. |
| 1864 Cobbold Entozoa 44 Those singular ectoparasitic creatures known as the *Gyrodactyles. |
| 1946 Flight 14 Nov. 540/1 (caption) The Fairey FB-1 research *Gyrodyne model which will be on view at the Paris Show. Ibid. 540/2 This is the first of a new class of rotary-winged aircraft known as Gyro⁓dynes. 1948 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LII. 285/1 Delaying the stall by twisting of the blade, or by the use of some alternative configuration, such as the gyrodyne. 1958 Lambermont & Pirie Helicopters & Autogyros of World 172 After the end of World War II..Peter P. Papadakos founded a group of engineers into the Gyrodyne Company of America Inc. for the purpose of perfecting the ‘gyro⁓dyne’ concept. |
| 1941 ‘R. Stranger’ Dict. Radio & Telev. Terms 101 *Gyro-frequency. 1962 W. B. Thompson Introd. Plasma Physics i. 4 The character of the radiation depends on electron energy; if the energy is low the radiation occurs primarily at the gyrofrequency Ω= eB/mc, where e, m = electron charge, mass, c = velocity of light and B = magnetic field strength. |
| 1817 Blackw. Mag. I. 525 A Celestial *Gyrograph..which gives the true bearings, rising, setting, and culminating, of forty of the principal fixed stars, for any hour and minute of the twenty-four hours. |
| 1907 Nature 5 Dec. 107/1 The *gyroplane of Messrs. Breguet..revives interest in the attempt to overcome gravity by vertical screw propellers. 1935 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXIX. 177 Aerodynamic analysis of the gyroplane rotating-wing system. 1969 Daily Tel. 10 Mar. 1/8 Mr. Ernest Brooks, 39, the garage owner who designed and built the Mosquito gyroplane, was fatally injured yesterday when it plunged 250 ft. to the ground. Ibid., The tiny {pstlg}1,000 gyroplane could cruise at 40 mph at 1000 ft and was capable of 80 mph. |
| 1908 Westm. Gaz. 14 Aug. 10/2 A new machine, the *Gyropter, or rotary-wing flying machine. 1912 Yorks. Post 13 Jan. (leader), Mr. Davidson proposes the building of what he calls a gyropter. |
| 1938 Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Yr. 27/2 Combine harvesters, milking machines, *gyrotillers, [etc.]. 1947 Times 8 Mar. 4/1 Every available piece of snow-shifting machinery had been pressed into service, including ploughs, tractors, bulldozers, blowers, gyro⁓tillers, and disc harrows. 1962 J. N. Winburne Dict. Agric. 358/2 Gyrotiller, a machine used in England to pulverize subsurface soil below depths of ordinary plowing. 1970 G. E. Evans Where Beards wag All ix. 106 The gyrotiller—an owd engine that come round and twizzle everything round. |