Lexic.us

Definition of Plumb line

1. Noun. A cord from which a metal weight is suspended pointing directly to the earth's center of gravity; used to determine the vertical from a given point.

Definition of Plumb line

1. Noun. A cord with a weight attached, used to produce a vertical line. ¹

2. Noun. Any vertical reference line. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Plumb Line

Literary usage of Plumb line

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Geographical Journal by Royal Geographical Society (Great Britain). (1902)
"THE question of the deflection of the plumb-line from its true vertical position, owing to the unequal effect of gravity occasioned by irregularities in the ..."

2. The Theory and Practice of Surveying: Designed for the Use of Surveyors and by John Butler Johnson (1886)
"The Plumb-line and the Bubble-tube are at once the most simple, universal, ... The direction of the plumb-line is by definition a vertical line, ..."

3. A Treatise on Surveying: Comprising the Theory and the Practice by William Mitchell Gillespie (1897)
"349, is so adjusted that, when the plumb.line coincides with the mark on the ... 850. the place of the plumb.line. Turn the instrument end for end, ..."

4. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and General (1890)
"The angle which the style makes with a hanging plumb-line, being the ... Suspend a fine plumb-line from some point of the style, then the style will be ..."

5. The Theory and Practice of Surveying: Designed for the Use of Surveyors and by John Butler Johnson (1886)
"The method of making the observation is as follows: Suspend a fine plumb-line, such as an ordinary fishing-line, by a heavy weight swinging freely in a ..."

6. The Observatory by Royal Astronomical Society (Gran Bretaña), Royal Greenwich Observatory, NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service, Royal astronomical society GB (1879)
"On Changes in the Plumb-line. ... I am not aware that any work on astronomy has expressly stated that the plumb-line is motionless in its direction. ..."

7. Geodesy: Including Astronomical Observations, Gravity Measurements, and by George Leonard Hosmer (1919)
"Effect of Masses of Topography on the Direction of the plumb line. The deflection of the plumb line by masses of topography may be computed by applying ..."

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