'Steelyard' definitions:
Definition of 'steelyard'
(from WordNet)
noun
A portable balance consisting of a pivoted bar with arms of unequal length [syn: steelyard, lever scale, beam scale]
Definition of 'Steelyard'
From: GCIDE
- Steelyard \Steel"yard\ (st[=e]l"y[aum]rd; colloq. st[i^]l"y[~e]rd; 277), n. [So named from a place in London called the Steelyard, which was a yard in which steel was sold.] A form of balance in which the body to be weighed is suspended from the shorter arm of a lever, which turns on a fulcrum, and a counterpoise is caused to slide upon the longer arm to produce equilibrium, its place upon this arm (which is notched or graduated) indicating the weight; a Roman balance; -- very commonly used also in the plural form, steelyards. [1913 Webster]