bascule

See also: basculé

English

bascule

A bascule bridge

breech-loading firearm showing the bascule

Etymology

From French basculer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbæskjuːl/

Noun

bascule (plural bascules)

1. A counterbalanced structure having one end that rises as the other lowers.
   • 1986, Jeffrey A. Hess, Historic Highway Bridges in Wisconsin, page 87:

     The study sample contains nine rolling-lift bascules of the type invented by Chicago engineer William Scherzer in 1893 , and refined by the engineering staff of the Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company, also of Chicago.

2. (firearms) The portion of a breech-loading firearm that pivots open in order to allow access to the chamber.
   • 1997, Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office:

     A device for coupling and releasing the trigger mechanism in a bascule of a gun

Related terms

• bacule

 

Derived terms

• basculation
• bascule bridge

 

Anagrams

• Caubles, Cebulas, bacules

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French bascule.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌbɑsˈky.lə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: vas‧cu‧le
• Rhymes: -ylə

Noun

bascule f (plural bascules)

1. balance, balance scales
2. counterweight

Derived terms

• basculebrug

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bas.kyl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (CAN):

  (file)

Noun

bascule f (plural bascules)

1. seesaw

Derived terms

• chaise à bascule
• cheval à bascule
• fauteuil à bascule

Verb

bascule

1. inflection of basculer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “bascule”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Italian

Noun

bascule f

1. plural of bascula

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Spanish

Verb

bascule

1. inflection of bascular:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative