What is "pivot man"

Pivot \Piv"ot\, n. [F.; prob. akin to It. piva pipe, F. pipe. See Pipe.]

1. A fixed pin or short axis, on the end of which a wheel or other body turns.

2. The end of a shaft or arbor which rests and turns in a support; as, the pivot of an arbor in a watch.

3. Hence, figuratively: A turning point or condition; that on which important results depend; as, the pivot of an enterprise.

4. (Mil.) The officer or soldier who simply turns in his place whike the company or line moves around him in wheeling; -- called also pivot man.

   Pivot bridge, a form of drawbridge in which one span, called the pivot span, turns about a central vertical axis.

   Pivot gun, a gun mounted on a pivot or revolving carriage, so as to turn in any direction.

   Pivot tooth (Dentistry), an artificial crown attached to the root of a natural tooth by a pin or peg.

n. the person in a rank around whom the others wheel and maneuver [syn: pivot]