derrick

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a crane with a movable boom, especially one used aboard a ship or at a construction site

   The crew secured the line to the starboard derrick before lifting the cargo.

2. 2
   noun

   a towerlike framework over an oil well or mine, used to support drilling or hoisting equipment

   The oil derrick stood above the wellhead on the empty plain.

Named for Thomas Derrick, an English executioner associated with a lifting frame used at Tyburn around 1600. The name passed from gallows-like hoisting apparatus to cranes and then to the framework erected over a well or mine.

Topics