Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun See
level , 1.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A tool employing a chamber with a colored liquid (usually alcohol, hence
spirit ) and an airbubble , used to determine ahorizontal orvertical referenceline .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun indicator that establishes the horizontal when a bubble is centered in a tube of liquid
Etymologies
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Examples
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fbharjo commented on the word spirit level
n. An instrument for determining the plane of the horizon, or the plane perpendicular to the direction in which bodies fall under the action of gravity. The simplest instrument used for this purpose is the plumbline. This is now superseded for most purposes by the bubble- or spirit-level, which consists of a frame of some kind firmly holding a glass tube, closed at the ends, nearly filled with anhydrous ether, or a mixture of ether and alcohol, and having its inner surface on the upper part ground into the form of the outer part of an anchor-ring. Fine levels have besides a graduated scale either on the glass or on a metallic rule set against it, so as to mark the precise position of the bubble. Most fine levels are provided with a chamber so contrived that the length of the bubble can be altered. The spirit-level is usually reversed in use, and the mean of its two indications adopted. The spirit-level is an attachment of most geodetical instruments; and there is a special instrument called a level or leveling-instrument (which see). -- from Century Dictionary definition of level
July 22, 2012
rolig commented on the word spirit level
Sonnet
- by Elizabeth Bishop
Caught—the bubble
in the spirit-level,
a creature divided;
and the compass needle
wobbling and wavering,
undecided.
Freed—the broken
thermometer's mercury
running away;
and the rainbow-bird
from the narrow bevel
of the empty mirror,
flying wherever
it feels like, gay!
1979
July 23, 2012
bilby commented on the word spirit level
Sounds like the last known use of gay without sexual reference.
July 24, 2012
word_turd commented on the word spirit level
@bilby
your gay
July 24, 2012
bilby commented on the word spirit level
I'm not going to respond until you finish your comment.
My gay ... apostrophe?
July 25, 2012
word_turd commented on the word spirit level
@bilby
Your face is gay and so r u.
July 25, 2012
rolig commented on the word spirit level
By 1979, "gay" in the sense of "homosexual" was already widespread among gays and lesbians themselves, so I expect that there is a play on words going on here. Bishop was a lesbian, who like most lesbians of her generation had to be very discreet; it may indeed be the case that this poem about freedom and escape (from the mirror!) indicates a new acceptance of her own homosexuality.
July 25, 2012