elevator — English Dictionary

Noun

1. Anything that raises or uplifts.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   And then the foaming flagons raised on high, with that best of all beverages, that elevator of spirits, that foaming sunshine, that grand and glorious brew of ale.

   Bulk loading of grain in progress from road to rail at Biggleswade using a portable elevator.

2. A permanent construction with a built-in platform or cab that can be raised and lowered, used to transport people and goods, as between different floors of a building.

   Usage

   • Australia
   • Canada
   • Philippines
   • US usage

   Synonyms

   lift

3. A silo used for storing wheat, corn or other grain (grain elevator).

   Usage

   • US usage

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   The harvest is now in full swing in the Great Plains and efforts are being made to rush the grain from the fields to the country elevators and then to the large terminals, such as Kansas City, Houston, Galveston and New Orleans.

   [W]hen a group of farmers started a co-op elevator, he invested in it, and persuaded business friends to do the same.

4. A control surface of an aircraft responsible for controlling the pitching motion of the machine.

5. A dental instrument used to pry up ("elevate") teeth in difficult extractions, or depressed portions of bone.

6. Any muscle that serves to raise a part of the body, such as the leg or the eye.

7. A type of shoe having an insert lift to make the wearer appear taller.

Verb

1. To move in an elevator.

   Usage

   • Informal
   • Intransitive

   Examples

   He elevatored up to the third floor.

Noun

1. lifting device consisting of a platform or cage that is raised and lowered mechanically in a vertical shaft in order to move people from one floor to another in a building

   Synonyms

   lift

   Broader terms

   lifting device

2. the airfoil on the tailplane of an aircraft that makes it ascend or descend

   Broader terms

   airfoilaerofoilcontrol surfacesurface