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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
protractor
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ After all, this is the unit used on the protractor that we first came across early in our school careers.
▪ Moira screamed and ran away from him, dropping several books and a protractor.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Protractor

Protractor \Pro*tract"or\, n.

  1. One who, or that which, protracts, or causes protraction.

  2. A mathematical instrument for laying down and measuring angles on paper, used in drawing or in plotting. It is of various forms, semicircular, rectangular, or circular.

  3. (Surg.) An instrument formerly used in extracting foreign or offensive matter from a wound.

  4. (Anat.) A muscle which extends an organ or part; -- opposed to retractor.

  5. An adjustable pattern used by tailors.
    --Knight.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
protractor

1610s, "one who lengthens (an action)," from Medieval Latin protractor, agent noun from Latin protrahere "to draw forward" (see protraction); sense of "instrument for drawing angles" first recorded 1650s.

Wiktionary
protractor

n. 1 One who, or that which, protracts, or causes protraction. 2 A circular or semicircular tool for drawing or measure#verb angles. 3 (context surgery English) An instrument formerly used in extracting foreign or offensive matter from a wound. 4 (context anatomy English) A muscle that extends an organ or part; opposed to (term retractor English). 5 An adjustable pattern used by tailors.

WordNet
protractor

n. drafting instrument used to draw or measure angles

Wikipedia
Protractor

A protractor is a measuring instrument, typically made of transparent plastic or glass, for measuring angles. Most protractors measure angles in degrees (°). Radian-scale protractors measure angles in radians. Most protractors are divided into 180 equal parts.

They are used for a variety of mechanical and engineering-related applications, but perhaps the most common use is in geometry lessons in schools.

Some protractors are simple half-discs. More advanced protractors, such as the bevel protractor, have one or two swinging arms, which can be used to help measure the angle.

Usage examples of "protractor".

A semicircular protractor of metal for measuring the inclination of vents, or for ascertaining their deviation from the guide.

I try and keep up my Euclid and do a rider over my lunch, and I just keep a protractor handy.

And, unafraid of the grimness, Ellen ran on ahead, her arms crooked back funnily because she had her hands in her pocket to keep the coconut-ice tin from rattling against the protractor, her red hair streaming a yard behind.

He retired to the laboratory and presently returned with a T-square, a military protractor, a pair of dividers and a large drawing-board on which was pinned a sheet of cartridge paper.

I went back to my chair and continued to read out the entries from the notebook while Thorndyke laid off the lines of direction with the protractor, taking out the distances with the dividers from a scale of equal parts on the back of the instrument.

He set off with the protractor an angle of twenty degrees from the north and south line and turned the chart round to that extent.

The stereotypical image of the civil engineer is one of a broad-shouldered, barrel-chested man with a blueprint in one hand and a protractor in the other.

When we were all together again, Henry took down the compass readings each team had gotten, and with a protractor and a ruler he drew these bearings on the map.

Quickly I pencilled in the bearings of the two extreme peaks of the Old Men from the break, and then used the protractor to measure the angle they subtended.

The astrologer dropped a heavy brass protractor on it, and rested his elbows on the flattened and stabilized mass.

He shoved the brass protractor to the floor and rummaged through his stack of papers.

And Angel sets the straight edge of the protractor, the edge marked in inches, against the circle.

Things slid off shelves, clattered to the metal-plated floor, Cohn, the radioman, who also handled the navigation, muttered a curse and bent to retrieve protractors, pencils, a steel rule.

Eschaton from rotisserie-league holocaust games played with protractors and PCs around kitchen tables.

A semicircular protractor of metal for measuring the inclination of vents, or for ascertaining their deviation from the guide.