bascule

See also: basculé

English

bascule

A bascule bridge

breech-loading firearm showing the bascule

Etymology

From French bascule.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbæskjuːl/

Noun

bascule (plural bascules)

1. A counterbalanced structure having one end that rises as the other lowers.
   • 1932, Journal of the Association of Chinese & American Engineers, page 10:

     In the late eighties and early nineties several new types of movable spans were advocated, including the pull-back draw, the jackknife span, the bob-tail swing, the horizontal-folding draw, the shearpole draw, the gyratory lift, the transbordeur, the double-cantilever swing, several types of bascule, and the vertical lift.

   • 1986, Jeffrey A. Hess, Historic Highway Bridges in Wisconsin, page 87:

     The study sample contains nine rolling-lift bascules of the type invented by Chicago engineer William Scherzer in 1893 , and refined by the engineering staff of the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company, also of Chicago.

   • 2009, w:Sherlock Holmes (2009 film), spoken by Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.):

     Look at those towering structures. It’s the first combination of bascule and suspension bridge ever attempted. Most innovative. [In reference to w:Tower Bridge.]

2. (firearms) The portion of a breech-loading firearm that pivots open in order to allow access to the chamber.
   • 1997, Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office:

     A device for coupling and releasing the trigger mechanism in a bascule of a gun

Derived terms

• basculation
• bascule bridge

 

Related terms

• bacule

 

Anagrams

• Caubles, Cebulas, bacules

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French bascule.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌbɑsˈky.lə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bas‧cu‧le
• Rhymes: -ylə

Noun

bascule f (plural bascules)

1. balance, balance scales
2. counterweight

Derived terms

• basculebrug

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bas.kyl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Noun

bascule f (plural bascules)

1. seesaw
2. (electronics) flip-flop

Derived terms

• chaise à bascule
• cheval à bascule
• fauteuil à bascule

Verb

bascule

1. inflection of basculer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “bascule”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Noun

bascule f

1. plural of bascula

Spanish

Verb

bascule

1. inflection of bascular:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative