Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A machine for hoisting and moving heavy objects, consisting of a movable boom equipped with cables and pulleys and connected to the base of an upright stationary beam.
- noun A tall framework over a drilled hole, especially an oil well, used to support boring equipment or hoist and lower lengths of pipe.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The overhead framework used in drilling the holes for oil-wells, and which remains in place after the boring is completed and the drilling machinery is removed.
- noun An apparatus for lifting and moving heavy weights.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A mast, spar, or tall frame, supported at the top by stays or guys, and usually pivoted at the base, with suitable tackle for hoisting heavy weights, such as stones in building.
- noun (Mining) The pyramidal structure or tower over a deep drill hole, such as that of an oil well (also called an oil derrick .
- noun a combination of the derrick and the crane, having facility for hoisting and also for swinging the load horizontally.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A device that is used for lifting and moving large objects
- noun A
framework that is constructed over a mine or oil well for the purpose ofboring or lowering pipes.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a simple crane having lifting tackle slung from a boom
- noun a framework erected over an oil well to allow drill tubes to be raised and lowered
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The only access is either by helicopter or hoisted by a derrick from a boat small enough to maneuver close inshore.
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Reply kevin derrick on December 14, 2008 said: hmm, it was some time ago that i visited but it was via Provenance on 16th and Fairmount.
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The derrick was the same one used for the first abutment having been moved and set up during the construction of the intermediate piers.
Concrete Construction Methods and Costs Halbert Powers Gillette
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The raising of the derrick was the signal for three hearty cheers, for this was a new era in the operations.
The Lighthouse 1859
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The raising of the derrick was the signal for three hearty cheers, for this was a new era in the operations.
The Lighthouse 1859
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The crane for hoisting goods is called a derrick, from this hangman.
Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook Ebenezer Cobham Brewer 1853
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An improvement on this is the locomotive boom derrick which is widely used both on the Pacific coast and of late in the Lake Superior region.
Handwork in Wood William Noyes
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The amusement of the onlookers changed to gaping wonder when they saw him deliberately bore a hole in the bottom of the boat near the bow, after which, fixing up some kind of derrick, he tipped the boat so that the water she had taken in at the stern ran out in front, and she floated safely over the dam.
The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln Helen Nicolay 1910
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Here the water of the Tigris is raised by a contrivance, which makes use of a high kind of derrick, leathern hose, and a rope which is pulled by a horse.
The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 10 Prince Otto Von Bismarck, Count Helmuth Von Moltke, Ferdinand Lassalle Kuno Francke 1892
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Students who complete the class will be eligible for positions such as derrick operator, rotary drill operator, service unit operator, roustabout, welding and brazing operator, and truck driver.
rolig commented on the word derrick
From the Online Etymology Dictionary:
"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."
December 17, 2007
reesetee commented on the word derrick
Hey...that is surprisingly eponymous!
December 17, 2007
ofravens commented on the word derrick
With hands like derricks,
Looks fierce and black as rooks
from "The Queen's Complaint," Sylvia Plath
April 14, 2008