capstan effect

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Datamuse reports no synonyms or antonyms for this word.

Noun

1. The [[friction]] between a [[rope]] (or other flexible material) around a curved surface (the [[capstan]]) exponentially amplifies the holding force, allowing a small tension on one side to resist a much larger tension on the other.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.