conveyor
(kənˈveɪə(r))
Also -er (chiefly in senses 1–4 a).
[f. convey v.1 + -or, -er1.]
1. One that conveys, carries, or transmits.
| 1513–4 Act 5 Hen. VIII, c. 3. Preamb., The utter undoyng of..merchauntes conveyers of the said Clothes. 1548 Hall Chron. 132 b, The conveyers of the hulkes knewe not the very channell. 1612 Brerewood Lang. & Relig. xiii. 141 The conveyers of waters of these times content themselves even with one inch [of descent] in 600 foot. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. 100 The Church may be unfailing conveiers of [Scripture] down to posterity without being infallible Interpreters thereof. 1741 Richardson Pamela III. 201 Being but the humble Conveyer of her Bounty to them! 1829 The Bengallee 344 The messenger and conveyer of these..writings and their replies. |
† 2. A nimble or light-fingered thief: see
convey v. 6 b.
Obs.| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iv. i. 317 Oh good: conuey: Conueyers are you all, That rise thus nimbly by a true Kings fall. |
3. One who transfers property.
| 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xli. (1739) 66 Where Lands were conveyed by writing or act of the party..the Will of the Conveyor should be strictly observed. 1670 Moral State Eng. 61 Contrary to the intent of the Conveyer. |
4. a. A thing that conveys, or transmits.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. iv. ii. ii. (1651) 378 Whey, which is the common convayer of all such things as purge black choler. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. i. §14 Making the senses the only certain conveyers of the truth of things to the mind. 1842–3 Grove Corr. Phys. Forces (ed. 6) 123 The dense matter is..the conveyer of the undulations. |
b. spec. Applied to various mechanical contrivances,
e.g. for conveying grain, chaff, flour, etc. in a mill, timber to the wheel in a saw-mill, hay or straw to another part of a barn, etc.
| 1813 Niles' Register Addenda III. 15/2 The conveyor,..while it cooled the flour, passed it on to the place where the elevator caught it. 1880 Chamber's Encycl. s.v. Barrel-Making, [The staves] are then laid upon an endless conveyer, which carries them against two circular saws. 1883 Harper's Mag. June 75/2 (Amer. Flour-mills) It empties itself into conveyers, consisting of small buckets travelling upon an endless belt. 1887 Engineering 29 July 131 The anti-friction grain conveyor..bids fair to come into extensive use. |
c. attrib., as
conveyor cable,
conveyor layout,
conveyor principle;
conveyor belt, an endless belt of rubber, canvas, etc., running over rollers or the like, on which objects or material can be conveyed (
cf. quot. 1883 for sense 4 b); also
attrib. and
fig.; hence
conveyor belting.
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 22 Jan. 8/2 Electric energy..is used..for the conveyor belts. 1935 H. G. Wells Things to Come x. 92 Digging machines are seen making a gigantic excavation. Conveyer belts carry away the debris. 1948 J. B. Priestley Linden Tree 43, I don't admire the mass production and conveyor-belt system of education. 1957 Times 30 Sept. 11/5 The apples seemed to skip of their own volition from the conveyor belt into the trays. 1959 Mercer & Smith in Biometrika XLVI. 30 Study of the wear of conveyor belting. Ibid. 33 In the application to the life of conveyer belting, the relative movement is due to continuous wear of the belting. |
| 1941 P. Richey Fighter Pilot 55 Missing the conveyor-cables on the edge of the field by inches. |
| 1937 Times 13 Apr. p. xiv/1 The springs are being made using a system embodying the conveyor layout. |
| Ibid. p. xiv/4 The washing of cars he does on the conveyor principle. |