derrick









derrick


noun

  1. Machinery. a jib crane having a boom hinged near the base of the mast so as to rotate about the mast, for moving a load toward or away from the mast by raising or lowering the boom.
  2. Also called oil derrick. the towerlike framework over an oil well or the like.
  3. a boom for lifting cargo, pivoted at its inner end to a ship’s mast or kingpost, and raised and supported at its outer end by topping lifts.

verb (used with or without object)

  1. Machinery. luff.

noun

  1. a simple crane having lifting tackle slung from a boom
  2. the framework erected over an oil well to enable drill tubes to be raised and lowered

verb

  1. to raise or lower the jib of (a crane)
n.

c.1600, originally “hangman,” then “a gallows,” then “hoist, crane” (1727), from surname of a hangman at Tyburn gallows, London, c.1606-1608, often referred to in contemporary theater. The name represents a late borrowing from the Low Countries (cf. Dutch Diederik) of Old High German Theodric.

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