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Definition of "steelyard" [steel•yard]

  • A balance consisting of a scaled arm suspended off center, a hook at the shorter end on which to hang the object being weighed, and a counterbalance at the longer end that can be moved to find the weight. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "steelyard" in a sentence
  • "To tell the truth, it was a delicate job, for the steelyard was a clumsy instrument, though, like the sceptical guard's language, the best we had."
  • "Hitherto the weighing machines in common use have either been designed with some kind of steelyard apparatus, upon which weights could be moved to different distances from a fixed fulcrum, or springs have been so applied as to be compressed to different degrees by different weights put upon the scale pan, or table, of the machine."
  • "Five days a week he works in steelyard to support an extended family of five: his brother, his girlfriend, his girlfriend's daughter and his girlfriend's daughter's infant son."