waywiser
/ˈweɪˌwaɪ.zɚ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An instrument for measuring distance travelled, such as an odometer, pedometer, perambulator, etc.
noun
An instrument for determining direction (and possibly other aspects of one's travel as well).
noun
A guide; A means of determining the direction in which to proceed.
Example Sentences
- "I went to see Colonel Blount, who showed me the application of the "Waywiser" to a coach, exactly measuring the miles and showing them by an index as we went along."
- "The Emperor Rudolphus II had a curious waywiser or odometer which is attributed to Schissler."
- "Therefore, Elector Augustus did all he could to promote the development of mechanical waywisers that would be able to do this work automatically."
- "Not being accustomed to this cruciform movement, I was not able, by the waywiser, to determine the real direction of the balloon, and on this account M. Robertson suffered to escape a considerable quantity of gas; on which we again fell till the barometer stood at 29 inches, about 50 minutes past seven."
- "THE Waywiser is an instrument whereby a man may steer himself where there is no path, or underground, in a mine; or find his way if he have lost it."
- "The purpose of the waywiser was to enable a navigator to keep a track of a ship's location by measuring and recording the speed and direction of its journey."