The Collaborative International Dictionary
Turret \Tur"ret\, n. [OE. touret, OF. tourette, dim. of tour a tower, L. turris. See Tower.]
(Arch.) A little tower, frequently a merely ornamental structure at one of the angles of a larger structure.
(Anc. Mil.) A movable building, of a square form, consisting of ten or even twenty stories and sometimes one hundred and twenty cubits high, usually moved on wheels, and employed in approaching a fortified place, for carrying soldiers, engines, ladders, casting bridges, and other necessaries.
(Mil.) A revolving tower constructed of thick iron plates, within which cannon are mounted. Turrets are used on vessels of war and on land.
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(Railroads) The elevated central portion of the roof of a passenger car. Its sides are pierced for light and ventilation.
Turret clock, a large clock adapted for an elevated position, as in the tower of a church.
Turret head (Mach.), a vertical cylindrical revolving tool holder for bringing different tools into action successively in a machine, as in a lathe.
Turret lathe, a turning lathe having a turret head.
Turret ship, an ironclad war vessel, with low sides, on which heavy guns are mounted within one or more iron turrets, which may be rotated, so that the guns may be made to bear in any required direction.
WordNet
n. a clock with more than one dial to show the time in all directions from a tower
Wikipedia
A turret clock or a public clock is a clock that is larger than a domestic clock and has a mechanism designed to drive a visual time indicator such as dials and or bells as a public amenity. Turret clocks specifically had mechanisms mounted high in a building often a purpose built tower such as churches, town halls, and other public buildings. Clocks were not referred to as turret clocks by clockmakers until recent times, often old clocks were recognised as turret clocks by their location.
A true turret clock has mechanical and latterly electrical power and therefore sits late in the history of timekeeping. The following timeline of clocks is not comprehensive but does indicate the placement of turret clocks.
Usage examples of "turret clock".
Graham's features registered anxiety as he noted the hands on the huge turret clock over the booths.
One was his Turret Clock, for which he obtained the medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851.
The buzzing of the bees came and went in soft waves as they swarmed round the many half-open rosebuds in the garden hedge, and through the dark foliage the merry little turret clock in the manor house could be heard striking.