Crossword clues for theodolite
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Theodolite \The*od"o*lite\, n. [Probably a corruption of the alidade. See Alidade.] An instrument used, especially in trigonometrical surveying, for the accurate measurement of horizontal angles, and also usually of vertical angles. It is variously constructed.
Note: The theodolite consists principally of a telescope, with cross wires in the focus of its object glass, clamped in Y's attached to a frame that is mounted so as to turn both on vertical and horizontal axes, the former carrying a vernier plate on a horizontal graduated plate or circle for azimuthal angles, and the latter a vertical graduated arc or semicircle for altitudes. The whole is furnished with levels and adjusting screws and mounted on a tripod.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
surveying instrument, 1570s, of unknown origin (see OED for discussion). "The word has a Gr[eek] semblance, but no obvious Gr[eek] basis" [Century Dictionary].
Wiktionary
n. A surveying instrument, consisting of a small mounted telescope, used to measure horizontal and vertical angles.
WordNet
n. a surveying instrument for measuring horizontal and vertical angles, consisting of a small telescope mounted on a tripod [syn: transit]
Wikipedia
A theodolite is a precision instrument for measuring angles in the horizontal and vertical planes. Theodolites are used mainly for surveying applications, and have been adapted for specialized purposes in fields like meteorology and rocket launch technology. A modern theodolite consists of a movable telescope mounted within two perpendicular axes—the horizontal or trunnion axis, and the vertical axis. When the telescope is pointed at a target object, the angle of each of these axes can be measured with great precision, typically to seconds of arc.
Theodolites may be either transit or non-transit. Transit theodolites (or just "transits") are those in which the telescope can be inverted in the vertical plane, whereas the rotation in the same plane is restricted to a semi-circle for non-transit theodolites. Some types of transit theodolites do not allow the measurement of vertical angles.
The builder's level is sometimes mistaken for a transit theodolite, but it measures neither horizontal nor vertical angles. It uses a spirit level to set a telescope level to define a line of sight along a horizontal plane.
Usage examples of "theodolite".
Harry shot the lines with his theodolite, and Bazo and Ralph worked behind him with a gang of axe men driving in the pegs and marking the corners with cairns of loose stones.
He had insisted on the most expensive equipment available for their project: brand-new theodolites, waywisers and measuring chains, of which none remained, the waywiser beside the fireplace being so old even the bailiffs had turned their noses up at it.
Twice a day hundreds of LFM weather balloons are released to measure temperature, dewpoint, barometric pressure, and windspeed, and relay the information back by theodolite.
Gradually he became aware :hat the instrument was not a theodolite at all -- it was a cine camera.
She and half a dozen assistants had been working with theodolites and laser range finders.
Surveying teams, high-type leadies, could be observed here and there, utilizing their tripod-mounted theodolites to determine the true horizontal plane.
Magnetic compasses, theodolites, telescopes, and pocket sundials had been shoved arbitrarily into worn wooden cases with specially shaped satin-lined compartments.
Not many theodolites have a hazel twig strapped to the top, either, or crystal pendulums hanging from them and Celtic runes carved into the legs.