Crossword clues for detent
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Detent \De*tent"\, n. [F. d['e]tente, fr. d['e]tendre to unbend, relax; pref. d['e]- (L. dis- or de) + tendre to stretch. See Distend.] (Mech.) That which locks or unlocks a movement; a catch, pawl, or dog; especially, in clockwork, the catch which locks and unlocks the wheelwork in striking.
Wiktionary
n. That which locks or unlocks a movement; a catch, pawl, or dog; especially, in clockwork, the catch which locks and unlocks the wheelwork in striking. vb. The action of creating a detent mechanism to lock or unlock movement.
WordNet
Wikipedia
A detent is a device used to mechanically resist or arrest the rotation of a wheel, axle, or spindle. Such a device can be anything ranging from a simple metal pin to a machine. The term is also used for the method involved.
Detents are for example used to simply arrest rotation in one direction or to intentionally divide a rotation into discrete increments.
Usage examples of "detent".
Quantrill quickly doffed his helmet, pressed its detent, let the visor and occipital segment slide into their nested positions.
The lower globe was the yield chamber, and a hidden detent allowed it to split apart.
He checked the satchel of reloads, aimed his flashgun, and then tested his faceshield's detents to be sure that it would snap closed easily if he needed the protection.
He clicked his channel selector across the detents, making sure that the increasing crackle of static blanketed the RF spectrum.
These were occasions when mechanical detents seemed likely to spring up or down.
He was to learn that only three of those detents were destruct mechanisms, and that the one electrical booby trap he did not find, had corroded harmlessly.
Working in furious haste, he took the sides from marked crates using detents as they'd shown him, then began to emplace the bags—and there were hundreds of them.
He slammed the throttles full forward past the detents and into afterburner.
He pressed the throttle controls forward to full military power, then clicked past the detents into Zone One afterburner.
He had inadvertently pulled the throttles past the safety detents and had shut down the engines.