rack and pinion

¹

noun

, Machinery, Automotive.

1. rack15a

rack-and-pinion

²

[ rak-uhn-pin-yuhn ]

adjective

1. of or relating to a mechanism in which a rack engages a pinion:

   rack-and-pinion steering.

rack-and-pinion

noun

1. a device for converting rotary into linear motion and vice versa, in which a gearwheel (the pinion) engages with a flat toothed bar (the rack)

adjective

1. (of a type of steering gear in motor vehicles) having a track rod with a rack along part of its length that engages with a pinion attached to the steering column

Word History and Origins

Origin of rack and pinion¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Engineering-wise, the Next Gen car includes an independent rear suspension and rack and pinion steering that’s more reactive to slight driver adjustments.

From Washington Post

About 10 years ago, Gear Works designed and built a rack and pinion gear system that slid open a big door in the fuselage of a specially built 747 jumbo jet while in flight.

From Seattle Times

WHY: The steering coupling can strip on the rack and pinion assembly and result in a loss of steering control and crash hazard.

From Seattle Times

The stage lifts use rack and pinion motors instead of hydraulics.

From Forbes

They knew things about cars that I never wanted to know about, such as torque ratio and the differences between rack and pinion steering vs. worm and roller.

From Forbes