1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Tree If the lower or bottom part of the Stem be..thicker than all the rest, it ought ever to preserve it self in that State; but if..it continues smaller than some part a little above it, from whence in effect some fine Roots proceed; then..you must entirely cut off this smaller Part, with all its Appurtenances: Many Gardiners call it Pivot, and those Roots must only be preserv'd that proceed from the fortunate Part.

1782 W. Dalrymple Tacticks (new ed.) 45 The whole should follow, file by file, from the pivot outwards.

1796 Instr. & Regulations Cavalry 51 When the squadron has wheeled to a flank by divisions.—If to the right, then the left officer is on the pivot of the rear division, and the right officer shifts to the pivot of the front division.

1832 Proposed Regulations Cavalry iii. 47 Pivot—The outward man on that flank of a Squadron or smaller body upon which that body turns in wheeling... Fixed Pivot—Is when the flank man during a wheel turns upon his own ground. Moveable Pivot—Is when the flank man during a wheel describes a portion of a circle.

1859 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (1862) 141 A battery can..change front on a moveable pivot by a simple wheel.

1860 Vol. Cav. Movement in Blackwood's Mag. Mar. 371/1 ‘When Right is in front, Left is the Pivot.’ This is the first thing taught to the Cornet.

1933 H. Allen Anthony Adverse III. viii. lviii. 939 The leading squadron wheeled on a right pivot, drew sabres and charged.

1835 Encycl. Brit. XI. 39/1 The next peculiarity of the ordinary detonating lock is the pivot or nipple.

1836 T. Oakleigh Oakleigh Shooting Code 18 The pivot is the nipple or cone of iron screwed into the breach, and on which the copper cap is placed.

1920 H. Frost & C. D. Wardlaw Basket Ball & Indoor Baseball for Women iv. 27 The pivot may be taken on the ball or heel of the foot, but the foot must remain in place.

1941 J. Naismith Basketball 66 Closely allied with the dribble is the pivot.

1950 S. Thompson Old Time Dancing (1951) i. 18 Pivoting or the Pivot is a movement obtained by turning on the ball or the heel of one or both feet.

1990 Sports Illustr. 18 June 74/3 Ripken..plays shortstop, which means he must make the pivot at second.

1994 Sports Illustr. 26 Dec. 32 He has got the whole point guard package..the stop-and-go dribble, the knack for splitting defenders at precisely the right moment, the jab step, the pivot under pressure.

2004 Orange County (Calif.) Register (Nexis) 21 June Adult male bats were making their expert dives and pivots and turns.

1861 E. Garbett Boyle Lect. 247 Heathenism fixed itself upon these pivot qualities of the heart.

1875 E. Poste tr. Gaius Institutionum Iuris Civilis (ed. 2) i. Introd. 2 Some of the pivot terms and most pervading conceptions.

1941 Nevada State Jrnl. 25 Oct. 9/1 Pivot issues carry market to high level... Stocks today spurted fractions to 2 points under the lead of pivotal issues to the best general level since October 14.

1867 Sci. Amer. 23 Nov. 327/2 (heading) Pivot gage, staff and frame for millstones.

1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 199 Pivot Gauge, a steel plate with tapered slit for measuring pivots.

1996 Re: Tips on Newbie Equipm. Wanted in rec.scuba.equipment (Usenet newsgroup) 1 July Basic pivot gauges are OK.

1667 R. Hooke Doc. 21 Mar. in T. Birch Hist. Royal Soc. (1756) III. 159 Putting..the two other opposite pivots into the pivot-holes.

1773 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 63 77 My clock is in general of the plain kind, moving in brass pivot-holes, beating dead seconds, with the common steel paletts.

1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick I. xxviii. 196 Captain Ahab stood erect... He was every day visible to the crew; either standing in his pivot-hole, or seated upon an ivory stool.

1999 Clocks Dec. 34/1 The back pivot hole for the hands motionwork is the only one in the frame bars which is not brass bushed. Does any reader recognise this clock?

1866 Sci. Amer. 28 Dec. 288/2 A watchmaker's pivot lathe.

1882 Century July 15/2 Here is a girl at work with a tiny lathe, called the automatic staff or pivot lathe.

1997 FS: Jacot Pivot Lathe in rec.crafts.metalworking (Usenet newsgroup) 30 Dec. Watchmaker's Jacot Pivot Lathe. Used to reduce the thickness of small pivots on watch gears.

1851 Sci. Amer. 3 May 262/2 We claim the construction of the stretching apparatus, by connecting the free rod to the clamp, by entering the end or tenon of the rod into a mortise with angular sides, and securing them together by a pivot pin.

1884 Instr. Mil. Engin. (ed. 3) I. ii. 58 A plate round the point or thin end, with a hole for the pivot pin.

1992 Guns Illustr. (ed. 24) 90/1 The shape of the trigger is better, with less curl at the tip; the trigger and the bolt latch now have separate pivot pins.

a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 686/2 Pivot Polisher, an attachment to the watchmaker's lathe. It is used for grinding and polishing conical pivots, snailing and drilling.

1948 Portland Press Herald 17 May 4/1 Lapping machines, pivot polishers, Bench Grinder, [etc.].

1997 WTB Lavin or D Size 10mm Collets in alt.horology (Usenet newsgroup) 25 Nov. I would like to buy a set of collets, pivot polisher, 3 jaw chuck, or any thing else that would fit this lathe.

2004 www.hill-loma.com 15 Apr. (O.E.D. Archive) Hydraulic & mechanical pivot shears.

1786 Gen. Regulations & Orders His Majesty's Forces 33 They must incline to the Left, in such Manner, as that the Pivot Flanks of the Whole may cover.

1833 Regulations Instr. Cavalry i. i. 38 They resume their places on the pivot flank.

1981 B. Fosten Wellington's Infantry 27 When ‘Dress’ was given, eyes turned up to the pivot flank, where the platoon commander stood and corrected the line.

1788 D. Dundas Princ. Mil. Movements 35 Though the distant point may not be seen or known by the pivot leaders, yet the mounted officers..are known by every one to be there placed for the purpose of marching or forming upon.

1796 Instr. & Regulations Cavalry 24 The pivot leader..will begin in his own person to circle behind the line from the old, so as to enter the new direction twenty or thirty yards from the point of intersection.

1788 D. Dundas Princ. Mil. Movements 72 The pivot officers and men, take care to cover exactly in a line from front to rear of the column.

1796 Instr. & Regulations Cavalry 59 In movements in column, the pivot officers..are answerable for covering, and for proper wheeling distances.

1851 Sci. Amer. 20 Dec. 106/3 Through the front end of the frame of the tender, I would insert a stout screw running down into a pivot bearing on the timber spoken of.

1925 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 108 155 These pulleys are provided with pivot-bearings of hardened steel.

1994 Bowhunting World Feb. 58/2 The Ballistic Mirage uses semi-cylindrical limb pivot bearings which are doweled into the face of the limb butts.

1848 Sci. Amer. 16 Dec. 97/3 This lever is united to the frame by pivot bolts CCCC, and it is jointed in the middle by a pivot B.

1970 Which? Mar. 85/2 Most of the shears were weighted so that the balance point was roughly around the pivot bolt.

1994 R. Moody Dry Divide xii. 150 The pivot bolt would make it possible to turn sharp corners, and the hinges would allow each wagon to be tilted separately on the elevator rocker.

1960 E. S. Higham & W. J. Higham High Speed Rugby 70 Another way..is to break on the side of the scrum on which the ball was put in. This is sometimes called the ‘pivot’ break, because the scrum-half pivots around his outside foot.

1795 A. W. Radcliffe Journey made in Summer 1794 2 The dockyard bounds the sluice and the town, communicating with the former by gates, over which a small pivot bridge connects the two sides of the street.

1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1721/2 A pivot-bridge of the New York Central Railway on the Linville principle.

1998 Sun Fun Bk. (Baltimore) Spring–Summer 28/3 Susquehanna Museum..includes restored 1840 lock tender's house, with period furnishings, and lock with pivot bridge of the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal.

1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1721/2 Pivot-broach, a..tool for opening the pivot-holes of watches.

1996 Watch Repair Equipm. in rec.antiques.marketplace (Usenet newsgroup) 15 May Pivot broach set.

1964 Amer. Psychologist 19 3/2 Two classes of words appear—a pivot class and an open class—and the child launches forth on his career in combinatorial talking.

1997 E. Lanza Lang. Mixing in Infant Bilingualism iv. 117 A pivot grammar comprised two basic categories or classes: the pivot class and the open class. The pivot class was a small one containing words of high frequency in the child's speech.

1866 Times 28 May 12/5 The new ‘pivot’ drill was also performed by each of the regiments.

1868 Times 26 Mar. 9/4 The 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, under Colonel Shute, were exercised in the pivot drill in the Long Valley.

1893 Manufacturer & Builder Oct. 229/2 (heading) The ‘Mascot’ Pivot Drills.

1997 FS: Watchmakers Drill Press in alt.horology (Usenet newsgroup) 11 Apr. Precision drill press consisting of 24 magic pivot drills, 2 drill holders, spring wire belting, [etc.].

1782 W. Dalrymple Tacticks (new ed.) 72 (note) The Pivot file is that file of each division in the line of direction on which the column is to march; the hinge on which it is to turn from line into column, or from column into line.

1833 Regulations Instr. Cavalry i. i. 38 The pivot files of the front rank face to the left.

1869 Sci. Amer. 18 Sept. 182/2 It requires a little practice to get used to working the bow, and the pivot file, in opposite directions..but, when familiar with the operation, pivots are easily speedily polished.

1949 H. B. Fried Watch Repairer's Man. ix. 155 Care should be exercised that the pivot file or burnisher be held against the pivot.

c1985 L. Penman Clock Repairer's Handbk. iv. 49 It is not necessary to soften..because the pivot file is quite capable of removing the small amount of metal needed to expose a clean surface once more.

2004 M. Smith Kingdom River 72 Then First Squadron began to wheel in stately turn to the left, ranks in good order as the pivot files slowed.

1896 Washington Post 14 Dec. 8/5 It is almost impossible for the umpire to see from behind the bat whether the twirler's pivot foot is on the rubber.

1954 Basketball (rev. ed.) 12/1 The pivot foot may be lifted to pass or shoot provided the ball is released before the foot touches the ground again.

2002 Arizona Republic (Nexis) 6 Oct. 4 f On an agile pivot foot, he repeatedly embarrassed Oregon's defenders, especially at the corners.

1857 Times 3 Jan. 5/6 The piece..is mounted upon a carriage which bears a general resemblance to that of an ordinary 6-pounder field gun, but which embraces a pivot frame and recoil slide.

1867 Sci. Amer. 28 Dec. 404/2 Pivot Gearing... I claim the circular bed, A, in combination with the pinion plate, B, and coupling plate, C.

1890 Cent. Dict. Pivot-gearing.

1970 L. M. Bloom Lang. Devel. 24 The speech of children described in pivot grammars in other investigations.

1984 Language 60 470/2 To deal with the early development of grammar, S resurrects pivot grammar in a less restrained form than its previous incarnation.

1998 D. P. O'Brien in M. D. S. Braine & D. P. O'Brien Mental Logic i. 2 Marty [Braine]..identified regularities in collocation and proposed accounting for these in terms of a simple set of grammatical rules (including his influential pivot grammar).

1831 Times 18 Oct. 3/4 The only description of the pirate vessel given is, that she..carried 10 large guns (similar to those of a sloop of war) on each side, and 2 pivot guns, one amidships and one forward.

1922 Jrnl. Negro Hist. 7 410 There were also two corps of militia... These had charge of the fifteen large carriages and three small pivot guns.

1998 Jrnl. Mil. Hist. 62 629 Semmes commented on his faulty powder and also on the ‘awful disparity’ between his own guns and Kearsarge's powerful 11-inch pivot guns.

1848 Sci. Amer. 24 June 313/3 I, is a large lever shaft keyed on to the axle H, by K, a pivot joint.

1881 St. G. Mivart Cat iv. 122 The last kind of joint to be noticed is that called a pivot-joint, an example of which is furnished by the two uppermost bones of the neck. Here one bone serves as an axis or pivot on which the other can rotate.

1993 J. A. Hufnagel Stanley Compl. Step-by-Step Bk. of Home Repair & Improvement i. i. 13 A folding rule..has a number of segments hinged together with metal pivot joints.

1782 W. Dalrymple Tacticks (new ed.) 109 The pivot men march on; the men of the front rank face inwards.., close to the pivot, and move on.

1814 Manœuvring iii. i, in J. Galt New Brit. Theatre II. 101 Ever since..you have been our lady's pivot-man: every thing turns on you.

1899 Century Jan. 472/1 The pivot-man of the second platoon turned sharply to the left, and started up the street without waiting for the gate to swing around.

1967 Boston Sunday Herald 9 Apr. (This Week Mag.) 4/3 Locate the ‘pivot man’ on each team—he's the fielder who makes the first move as the team adjusts position for each new batter.

2004 N.Y. Sun (Nexis) 17 Feb. 15 Neither was a star in that game, and both have spent their careers as backup pivotmen.

1922 N.Y. Times 18 Dec. 20/4 The inventor of the pivot pass and the short pass which has come into almost universal use and which has revolutionized the game.

1959 Times 6 July 4/3 Aggravated by Mulligan's excessive affection for a wheeling pivot pass, Thomas at stand-off half handicapped himself and the three-quarters still further by standing to take his passes.

1960 E. S. Higham & W. J. Higham High Speed Rugby 68 You will have to pivot round on the outside foot as you take off. This is called the ‘pivot’ or ‘reverse’ pass.

2004 Philadelphia Inquirer (Nexis) 21 Mar. The rookie then made a nice pivot pass from behind the net to Lapointe.

1788 D. Dundas Princ. Mil. Movements 80 As there are so many determined pivot points given, it becomes easy to dress correctly a platoon or a battalion.

1855 U.S. Rev. June 448 The island of Cuba is..the pivot-point on which turn four questions of great moment to this country.

1993 R. J. Pond Introd. Engin. Technol. (ed. 2) vii. 178 Sometimes vibration is purposely introduced at a pivot point to eliminate stiction.

1836 T. Oakleigh Oakleigh Shooting Code 106 Articles necessary to the grouse-shooter's equipment..; fowling-piece, in case or bag; two extra pivots; a pivot-pricker; pivot-wrench.

1856 Times 17 Apr. 12/3 After attaining the pivot-ships Duke of Wellington and Royal George..the Red squadron rounded the latter.

1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Pivot-ship, in certain fleet evolutions, the sternmost ship remains stationary, as a pivot on which the other vessels are to form the line anew.

2004 premier.shanky.com 15 Apr. (O.E.D.Archive) Majorum is the offensive leader of Liquid Inc and tends to make the plays and play as the pivot ship.

1870 O. Chanute Kansas City Bridge 118 (table) Timber in..pivot span.

1935 Lima (Ohio) News 23 Dec. 2/1 Captain McNair, standing on the open pivot span looking down stream as a tug and its barge tow started thru, heard the bus crash thru the guard rail.

2002 Daily Town Talk (Alexandria, Los Angeles) (Nexis) 16 May 5 b Now that the river is down again, work is being pushed in pulling out the false work which was used in erecting the pivot span of the traffic bridge.

1842 in C. R. E. Koch Hist. Dental Surg. I. 269 In 1811 after I came to the United States I saw a pivot tooth which had been sent by Dr. Kuhn.

1909 in C. R. E. Koch Hist. Dental Surg. I. 258 Many pivot teeth were removed at the patient's will for the purpose of cleansing.

1994 New Yorker 19 Sept. 79/3 I had a pivot tooth—a false tooth—which immediately came out.

1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1721/2 A traversing platform passing through the pivot transom and the front sleeper of the platform.

1836 T. Oakleigh Oakleigh Shooting Code 106 Articles necessary to the grouse-shooter's equipment..; fowling-piece, in case or bag; two extra pivots; a pivot-pricker; pivot-wrench.

1857 E. J. Lewis Amer. Sportsman (new ed.) 383 (heading) Nipple or Pivot-wrench.

1880 Indiana (Pa.) Weekly Messenger 22 Sept. 2/6 Game Bags, Wiping Sticks, Pivot Wrenches, [etc.].

1841 C. J. Lever Charles O'Malley xc, in Dublin Univ. Mag. June 755/2 The seventh..took up their ground at Frenada, pivoting upon the first division.

1872 H. W. Beecher in Christian World Pulpit 2 250 You know that Christ's ministry was pivoting upon Capernaum.

1883 ‘Holme Lee’ Loving & Serving II. ix. 154 ‘No’, said the clergyman, and pivoted on his heel.

1967 G. Steiner Lang. & Silence 418 A major part of western literature pivots on a sense of irreplaceable personal identity.

1977 ‘J. le Carré’ Honourable Schoolboy iii. xiii. 287 She went on chattering, pivoting to talk to him, one arm held wide of her body, palm upward, like a fashion model.

2002 Cigar Aficionado Jan. 113/2 The case, which pivots on a gold frame.., can also be turned over, showing the transparent sapphire crystal back.

1842 Penny Cycl. XXIV. 148/2 This machine [sc. a polygrammatic telegraph]..consisted of four posts, at the top of each of which was pivoted a pair of arms. Each pair of arms was capable..of forming more than a sufficient variety of distinct signals to express any of the numerals or the 0.

1851 Fraser's Mag. 44 472 There is not a man..whose moral and mental centre of gravity more firmly pivot the violent oscillations and gyrations of his ‘passionate’ energy.

1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding xx. 454 To have the model pivoted at the ends.

1878 R. H. Hutton Scott x. 101 Scott's romances..are pivoted on public rather than mere private interests.

1945 C. E. Balleisen Princ. Firearms vi. 66 The ejector..is a curved member pivoted to the side of the receiver.

1988 Road & Track Nov. 47/1 This has made it possible to pivot the new alloy lower arms on bushings calibrated to give some fore-aft compliance for the suspension.

1853 E. C. Gaskell Cranford xiii The young men..had on their best looks..and pivoted themselves over the counter with surprising activity.

1896 H. James Amer. Writers xxxi. 460 His concern is..to pivot them round and show the odd little stamp or sign that gives them their value for the collector.

1940 Life 30 Sept. 93/1 [He] feigned insanity. He mumbled, shadowboxed with imaginary little men, loosely pivoted his neck as if trying to shake something off.

1988 B. Chatwin Utz 19 Kaspar pivoted the figurine in the flickering candlelight.

2001 Chicago Sun-Times (Nexis) 10 Aug. 150 As Michael Finley slowly stretched out his muscular torso face-down while pivoting himself on a miniature rolling device, the veins in his face, arms and shoulders bulged profoundly.

1895 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon (at cited word) In Bot., a main root which grows vertically downwards is spoken of as ‘pivoting’ (Littré).