detent
Syllables: de·tent/dɪˈtɛnt/
detent noun: that which locks or unlocks a movement; a catch (stopping mechanism), pawl, or dog; especially, in clockwork, the catch which locks and unlocks the wheelwork in striking.
Noun
detent (plural detents)
- That which locks or unlocks a movement; a catch (stopping mechanism), pawl, or dog; especially, in clockwork, the catch which locks and unlocks the wheelwork in striking.
- A UHF tuner having 70 detent positions with fine tuning capability at all locations. Coarse tuning is accomplished via a toothed, detented disk and a spirally-extending rim having a follower lever operable therewith.1972, Mayer et al., United States Patent 3760640, abstract
Verb
detent (third-person singular simple present detents, present participle detenting, simple past and past participle detented)
- The action of locking or unlocking movement by way of a detent mechanism
detent meaning in Tamil
detent in Tamil
- அசைவுத்தடுப்பு, நிறுத்தலுபாயம், நிறுத்தி
Forms of detent
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | detents |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | detents |
| present participle | detenting |
| past participle | detented |
| past | detented |
Origin of detent
From French détente, from Latin tendō (“to stretch”).
Words that rhyme with detent
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- repent
- ascent
- rent
- resent
- scent
- absent
- augment
- cement
- content
- extent
- fragment
- lent
- prevent
- anent
- consent
- dent
- dissent
- percent
- relent
- spent
- Tashkent
- tent
- accent
- circumvent
- convent
- discontent
- intent
- invent
- went
- %
- assent
- dement
- ferment
- foment
- gent
- Gwent
- incent
- lament
- malcontent
- reinvent
- stent
- underrepresent
- attent
- big tent
- blent
- diapertent
- djent
- ent
Questions about detent
- What does detent mean?
- Detent means that which locks or unlocks a movement; a catch (stopping mechanism), pawl, or dog; especially, in clockwork, the catch which locks and unlocks the wheelwork in striking.
- What is detent in Tamil?
- Detent in Tamil is அசைவுத்தடுப்பு, நிறுத்தலுபாயம், நிறுத்தி. See Detent meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is detent?
- Detent can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce detent?
- Detent is pronounced /dɪˈtɛnt/.
- What is the plural of detent?
- The plural of detent is detents.
Words near detent in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: detent (page history and authors); detent (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-detent.wav.
Cite this entry: “detent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/detent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.