a collar or face plate on a shaft that is inclined at an oblique angle to the axis of rotation and either imparts reciprocating motion to push rods parallel to the shaft axis as in a swash plate pump or, conversely, converts reciprocating motion to rotation as in a swash plate motor
Also called: wobble plate
Word origin
from swash (obsolete n) an oblique figure or ornament, from aswash: see swash letter