noun
- 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.
- Also called oil derrick. the towerlike framework over an oil well or the like.
- 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)
- Machinery. luff.
noun
- a simple crane having lifting tackle slung from a boom
- the framework erected over an oil well to enable drill tubes to be raised and lowered
verb
- to raise or lower the jib of (a crane)
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.