Capstan
Capstan , noun
[French cabestan, from Sp. cabestrante, cabrestante, from cabestrar to bind with a halter, from cabestrohalter, from Latin capistrum halter, from capere to hold (see Capacious); or perh. the Spanish is from Latin caper goat + stans, present participle of stare to stand; compare French chèvre she-goat, also a machine for raising heavy weights.]
A vertical cleated drum or cylinder, revolving on an upright spindle, and surmounted by a drumhead with sockets for bars or levers. It is much used, especially on shipboard, for moving or raising heavy weights or exerting great power by traction upon a rope or cable, passing around the drum. It is operated either by steam power or by a number of men walking around the capstan, each pushing on the end of a lever fixed in its socket.
Collocations (4)
Capstan bar , one of the long bars or levers by which the capstan is worked; a handspike..
To pawl the capstan , to drop the pawls so that they will catch in the notches of the pawl ring, and prevent the capstan from turning back.
To rig the capstan , to prepare the for use, by putting the bars in the sockets.
To surge the capstan , to slack the tension of the rope or cable wound around it.