Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A cone-shaped sleeve used for holding circular or rodlike pieces in a lathe or other machine.
  • noun A metal collar used in watchmaking to join one end of a balance spring to the balance staff.
  • noun A circular flange or rim, as in a ring, into which a gem is set.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See colet.
  • To set in or as in a collet.
  • noun A band or collar; specifically, a small collar or band worn by the inferior clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.
  • noun Among jewelers: Same as culet.
  • noun The ring or flange within which a jewel or a group of jewels is set, as that part of a ring which holds the seal. The word is most common in connection with large compositions of jewelers' work.
  • noun In glass manufacturing, that part of a glass vessel which adheres to the pontee or iron instrument used in taking the substance from the melting-pot.
  • noun In machinery, a small band of metal, as the ring which fastens the packing of a piston.
  • noun In gunnery, that part of the muzzle of a cannon which lies between the astragal and the face of the piece.
  • noun Same as colewort.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A small collar or neckband.
  • noun (Mech.) A small metal ring; a small collar fastened on an arbor; ; a small socket on a stem, for holding a drill.
  • noun The part of a ring containing the bezel in which the stone is set.
  • noun The flat table at the base of a brilliant. See Illust. of Brilliant.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A band, flange, ferrule, or collar, usually of a hard material, especially a metal.
  • noun In particular, the rim (of a ring) within which a jewel is set. Compare bezel.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a metal cap or band placed on a wooden pole to prevent splitting
  • noun a band or collar that holds an individual stone in a jewelry setting
  • noun a cone-shaped chuck used for holding cylindrical pieces in a lathe

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, diminutive of col, collar, from Latin collum, neck; see kwel- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French.

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Examples

Comments

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  • "Before the glass cleaning began I would have to remove the brass collet at the end of each rod. The collet would fit into some as yet unseen mechanism which would rotate the rods."

    The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey, p 78 of the Knopf hardcover

    June 5, 2012