turnstile
(ˈtɜːnstaɪl)
[f. turn v. + stile n.]
a. A gateway formed of four radiating arms of timber or iron at right angles to each other, revolving horizontally on a fixed vertical post, set up in a passage or entrance, originally to exclude any but foot-passengers; now often to prevent the passage of more than one person at a time at a place where fees, fares, or tickets are collected, or where it is desired to count those passing.
| a 1643 Cartwright Lady Errant i. v, Double forked Like a turn-stile, or some such engin. 1650 B. Discolliminium 48, I can devise none fitter then Weather-cocks and a Turne-stile. 1716 Gay Trivia iii. 108 Where twirling turnstiles intercept the way, The thwarting passenger shall force them round. 1818 Leigh New Pict. Lond. 313 The kind of iron turn-stiles, which admit of only one person passing at a time. 1861 All Year Round 29 June 324 The railway station is full, the voluminous gowns are jamming up the ticket collectors' turnstiles. 1890 Spectator 31 May 756 Sixty thousand passed the turnstiles of the Zoological Gardens. |
| fig. 1852 Jerdan Autobiog. II. xxi. 296 Bills..were frequently only turnstiles opening into paths of difficulty. |
b. attrib.| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 336/2 A Turning Hatch, or Turnstyle gate. 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. s.v., A turnstile counter for omnibuses and cars is described in English patent No. 2189, of 1854. Turnstile-register,..for registering the number of persons who pass through a turnstile. 1896 Daily News 21 Aug. 3/5 Turnstile attendant at the Crystal Palace. 1952 D. G. Fink Television Engin. (ed. 2) vii. 367 Decoupling in the antenna itself is accomplished by separating the elements of the turnstile antenna..into two orthogonal groups and connecting these groups in a bridge circuit. Ibid. 371 The appearance of two horizontal dipoles at right angles has given rise to the descriptive term turnstile radiator. 1959 K. Henney Radio Engin. Handbk. (ed. 5) xx. 76 Many forms of vertical arrays have already been evolved using magnetic dipoles, turnstile elements, or current sheets. 1971 Gloss. Electrotechnical Power Terms (B.S.I.) iii. vii. 16 Turnstile aerial, aerial consisting of one or more tiers, each tier being a combination of two horizontal dipoles arranged in the form of a right angled cross. 1978 Nature 5 Oct. 375/2 The VHF system consists of duplicate transponders and a four-element turnstile antenna. |