detent

From French détente, from Latin tendō (“to stretch”).

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈtɛnt/[1], /ˈdiːtɛnt/[2]

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• Rhymes: -ɛnt
• Hyphenation: de‧tent

detent (plural detents)

1. That which locks or unlocks a movement; a catch (stopping mechanism), pawl, or dog; especially, in clockwork, the catch which locks and unlocks the wheelwork in striking.
   • 1972, Mayer et al., United States Patent 3760640, abstract:

     A UHF tuner having 70 detent positions with fine tuning capability at all locations. Coarse tuning is accomplished via a toothed, detented disk and a spirally-extending rim having a follower lever operable therewith.

• détente

detent (third-person singular simple present detents, present participle detenting, simple past and past participle detented)

1. The action of creating a detent mechanism to lock or unlock movement.

• “detent”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “detent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “detent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “detent”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• detent on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• netted, tented