Word.ws English Dictionary

capstans

capstans is the plural of capstan.

Meaning of capstan

Noun

capstan (plural capstans)

  1. (especially) A vertical cylindrical machine that revolves on a spindle, typically surmounted by a drumhead with sockets for levers for turning it; used to apply force to cables, ropes, etc.
    • to pawl the capstan
  2. A rotating spindle used to move recording tape through the mechanism of a tape recorder.
  3. a screw on the rising side of a piano key, which serves the function of lifting the wippen when the key is depressed
    • The upward force of the capstan causes the wippen to rise, thrusting the jack upward into another component called the “knuckle” that is fixed to one end of the hammer shank.(Can we date this quote?), Kawai

Phrases with capstans

Questions about capstans

What is capstans the plural of?
Capstans is the plural of capstan.

Words near capstans in the dictionary

  1. Capstan Island
  2. capstan screw
  3. capstan screws
  4. capstanman
  5. capstanmen
  6. capstans
  7. capstern
  8. capsterns
  9. Capstick
  10. Capsticks
  11. capstone

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: capstans (page history and authors); capstan (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-capstans.wav.

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