Crossword clues for funicular
funicular
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Funicular \Fu*nic"u*lar\, a. [Cf. F. funiculaire.]
Consisting of a small cord or fiber.
Dependent on the tension of a cord.
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(Anat.) Pertaining to a funiculus; made up of, or resembling, a funiculus, or funiculi; as, a funicular ligament.
Funicular action (Mech.), the force or action exerted by a rope in drawing together the supports to which its ends are Fastened, when acted upon by forces applied in a direction transverse to the rope, as in the archer's bow.
Funicular curve. Same as Catenary.
Funicular machine (Mech.), an apparatus for illustrating certain principles in statics, consisting of a cord or chain attached at one end to a fixed point, and having the other passed over a pulley and sustaining a weight, while one or more other weights are suspended from the cord at points between the fixed support and the pulley.
Funicular polygon (Mech.), the polygonal figure assumed by a cord fastened at its extremities, and sustaining weights at different points.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1660s, from funicle "a small cord" (1660s), from Latin funiculus "a slender rope," diminutive of funis "a cord, rope," of unknown etymology. De Vaan suggests it is a derivative of the root of filum. A funicular railway (1874) is one worked by a cable from a stationary engine.
Wiktionary
a. 1 Of, pertaining to, resembling, or powered by a rope or cable 2 (context botany English) Having a fleshy covering of the seed formed from the funiculus, the attachment point of the seed. n. A particular type of rail transit system which ascends a steep urban or mountain incline, having usually two cars sharing a single track, with the cars linked by a cable and an arrangement of pulleys such that the descending car assists in the hoisting of the ascending car, i.e. the two cars serve as counterweights for each other.
WordNet
adj. relating to or operated by a cable; "funicular railway"
n. a railway up the side of a mountain pulled by a moving cable and having counterbalancing ascending and descending cars [syn: cable railway, funicular railway]
Wikipedia
A funicular , also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope, the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalancing each other. Funiculars of one sort or another have existed for hundreds of years and continue to be used for moving both passengers and goods. Its name derives from the latin, funiculus, diminutive of funis, meaning "rope".
Usage examples of "funicular".
Jillian at a ninety-degree angle from the funicular, Harvath took advantage of the Squintar lens affixed to his camera and clicked away.
He knew enough about the man to know that two police cars at the bottom of a funicular was only the tip of the security iceberg.
Had the police at the bottom of the funicular not been enough to confirm his presence, now they knew for sure that he was in residence.
In addition to what looked like the original monastery buildings, Aiglemont had a glass solarium, which probably covered a pool of some sort, a structure housing the mechanical system for the funicular, a narrow concrete or stone patio in front, and a sickly piece of green which turned out to be a small, oblong patch of Alpine meadow that ran along the side of the main buildings and ended in an abrupt drop-off to the valley floor thousands of feet below.
Besides, if I know Rayburn, those funicular cars are wired with cameras, as well as intrusion monitors.
Part of that initial assault force will secure the upper portion of the funicular so the rest of the team can be brought up that way from the village.
Stern commandos were climbing off the funicular twenty minutes later when the medical chopper arrived.
Emir Tokay, into the helicopter, the commandos casually strolled past all the men fighting the blazing inferno and rode the funicular back down to the village.
In the funicular terminus she stood on the far side of the polished onyx rail and tried to act as if she were waiting for someone.
Access to the funicular was controlled, she saw, by a squad of Naxids, all carrying rifles and wearing armor over their centauroid, black-beaded bodies.
Two days after their reconnaissance to the funicular terminal, the government had announced the special identification card that would be required for all residents and workers of the High City.
Hotel Spartex, a building in the Lower Town, near the funicular, that had been requisitioned by the Naxids to house their constabulary.
In the morning she rose and found that the road and the funicular had been reopened.
An armored blockhouse now guarded the one road to the summit, and both the road and the funicular railway were under the sights of antiproton guns mounted in the High City.
Plus, any defenders at the upper terminal of the funicular could hold off an army with small arms.