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ball screw.

Noun
Sci-FiSettingTechnical
MEANING

A screw-and-nut mechanism using rolling balls between the threads to transmit force with comparatively low friction.

Use it for

smooth precision positioning; rolling contact within a screw drive; a mechanism distinguished from a plain sliding lead screw

Words that belong together

  • a ball-screw drive
  • a ball-screw nut

On the page

The ball-screw drive moved smoothly until debris reached the recirculation path.
She inspected the ball-screw nut before increasing the load.

Nearby words

rolling-element screw drive

Related words

rolling-element screw driverecirculating-ball screw
Word forms
Base
ball screw

Explore related collections

Science-fiction vocabulary

Usage notes

Primary category: sci-fi. Forms: Singular ball screw; plural ball screws. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.

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