ELEVATOR

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lifting device consisting of a platform or cage that is raised and lowered mechanically in a vertical shaft in order to move people from one floor to another in a building

Synonyms:

elevator; lift

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("elevator" is a kind of...):

lifting device (a device for lifting heavy loads)

Meronyms (parts of "elevator"):

car; elevator car (where passengers ride up and down)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "elevator"):

dumbwaiter; food elevator (a small elevator used to convey food (or other goods) from one floor of a building to another)

freight elevator; service elevator (an elevator designed for carrying freight)

paternoster (a type of lift having a chain of open compartments that move continually in an endless loop so that (agile) passengers can step on or off at each floor)

Holonyms ("elevator" is a part of...):

building; edifice (a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place)

Derivation:

elevate (raise from a lower to a higher position)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The airfoil on the tailplane of an aircraft that makes it ascend or descend

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("elevator" is a kind of...):

aerofoil; airfoil; control surface; surface (a device that provides reactive force when in motion relative to the surrounding air; can lift or control a plane in flight)

Holonyms ("elevator" is a part of...):

horizontal tail (the horizontal stabilizer and elevator in the tail assembly of an aircraft)

Credits

Context examples:

A reluctant elevator boy went for a box full of straw and some milk to which he added on his own initiative a tin of large hard dog biscuits—one of which decomposed apathetically in the saucer of milk all afternoon.