hub plank

1 definition found

hub plank - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Hub \Hub\ (h[u^]b), n. [See 1st Hob.]
     1. The central part, usually cylindrical, of a wheel; the
        nave. See Illust. of Axle box.
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     2. The hilt of a weapon. --Halliwell.
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     3. A rough protuberance or projecting obstruction; as, a hub
        in the road. [U.S.] See Hubby.
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     4. A goal or mark at which quoits, etc., are cast.
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     5. (Diesinking) A hardened, engraved steel punch for
        impressing a device upon a die, used in coining, etc.
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     6. A screw hob. See Hob, 3.
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     7. A block for scotching a wheel.
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     8. The central location within which activities tend to
        concentrate, or from which activities radiate outward; a
        focus of activity.
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     9. Hence: (Aeronautics) A large airport used as a central
        transfer station for an airline, permitting economic air
        transportation between remote locations by directing
        travellers through the hub, often changing planes at the
        hub, and thus keeping the seat occupancy rate on the
        airplanes high. The hub together with the feeder lines
        from remote locations constitute the so-called
  
     hub and spoke system of commercial air passenger
        transportation. A commercial airline may have more than
        one such hub.
        [PJC]
  
     10. The city of Boston, Massachusetts referred to locally by
         the nickname The Hub.
         [PJC]
  
     Hub plank (Highway Bridges), a horizontal guard plank along
        a truss at the height of a wagon-wheel hub.
  
     Up to the hub, as far as possible in embarrassment or
        difficulty, or in business, like a wheel sunk in mire;
        deeply involved. [Colloq.]
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