noun
- weather vane.
- a blade, plate, sail, etc., in the wheel of a windmill, to be moved by the air.
- any of a number of blades or plates attached radially to a rotating drum or cylinder, as in a turbine or pump, that move or are moved by a fluid, as steam, water, hot gases, or air.
- a person who is readily changeable or fickle.
- Aerospace.
- any fixed or movable plane surface on the outside of a rocket providing directional control while the rocket is within the atmosphere.
- a similar plane surface located in the exhaust jet of a reaction engine, providing directional control while the engine is firing.
- Ornithology. the web of a feather.
- Navigation, Surveying. either of two fixed projections for sighting an alidade or the like.
- Archery. feather(def 5).
noun
- Sir HenrySir Harry Vane, 1613–62, British statesman and author.
noun
- Also called: weather vane, wind vane a flat plate or blade of metal mounted on a vertical axis in an exposed position to indicate wind direction
- any one of the flat blades or sails forming part of the wheel of a windmill
- any flat or shaped plate used to direct fluid flow, esp a stator blade in a turbine, etc
- a fin or plate fitted to a projectile or missile to provide stabilization or guidance
- ornithol the flat part of a feather, consisting of two rows of barbs on either side of the shaft
- surveying
- a sight on a quadrant or compass
- the movable marker on a levelling staff
noun
- Sir Henry, known as Sir Harry Vane. 1613–62, English Puritan statesman and colonial administrator; governor of Massachusetts (1636–37). He was executed for high treason after the Restoration
“wind indicator,” early 15c., southern England alteration (see V) of fane.
- British pharmacologist. He shared a 1982 Nobel Prize for research on prostaglandins.
- The flattened, weblike part of a feather, consisting of a series of barbs on either side of the rachis.