DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Skew, a. Turned or twisted to one side; situated obliquely; skewed; -- chiefly used in technical phrases.
 Skew arch, an oblique arch. See under Oblique.
 Skew back. Civil Engin. (a) The course of masonry, the stone, or the iron plate, having an inclined face, which forms the abutment for the voussoirs of a segmental arch. (b) A plate, cap, or shoe, having an inclined face to receive the nut of a diagonal brace, rod, or the end of an inclined strut, in a truss or frame.
 Skew bridge. See under Bridge, n.
 Skew curve Geom., a curve of double curvature, or a twisted curve. See Plane curve, under Curve.
 Skew gearing, or Skew bevel gearing Mach., toothed gearing, generally resembling bevel gearing, for connecting two shafts that are neither parallel nor intersecting, and in which the teeth slant across the faces of the gears.
 Skew surface Geom., a ruled surface such that in general two successive generating straight lines do not intersect; a warped surface; as, the helicoid is a skew surface.
 Skew symmetrical determinant Alg., a determinant in which the elements in each column of the matrix are equal to the elements of the corresponding row of the matrix with the signs changed, as in (1), below.
 
 (1)  0 2 -3-2 0 53 -5 0   (2)  4 -1 71 8 -2-7 2 1
 
 Note: This requires that the numbers in the diagonal from the upper left to lower right corner be zeros. A like determinant in which the numbers in the diagonal are not zeros is a skew determinant, as in (2), above.

 Bridge n.
 1. A structure, usually of wood, stone, brick, or iron, erected over a river or other water course, or over a chasm, railroad, etc., to make a passageway from one bank to the other.
 2. Anything supported at the ends, which serves to keep some other thing from resting upon the object spanned, as in engraving, watchmaking, etc., or which forms a platform or staging over which something passes or is conveyed.
 3. Mus. The small arch or bar at right angles to the strings of a violin, guitar, etc., serving of raise them and transmit their vibrations to the body of the instrument.
 4. Elec. A device to measure the resistance of a wire or other conductor forming part of an electric circuit.
 5. A low wall or vertical partition in the fire chamber of a furnace, for deflecting flame, etc.; -- usually called a bridge wall.
 Aqueduct bridge. See Aqueduct.
 Asses' bridge, Bascule bridge, Bateau bridge. See under Ass, Bascule, Bateau.
 Bridge of a steamer Naut., a narrow platform across the deck, above the rail, for the convenience of the officer in charge of the ship; in paddlewheel vessels it connects the paddle boxes.
 Bridge of the nose, the upper, bony part of the nose.
 Cantalever bridge. See under Cantalever.
 Draw bridge. See Drawbridge.
 Flying bridge, a temporary bridge suspended or floating, as for the passage of armies; also, a floating structure connected by a cable with an anchor or pier up stream, and made to pass from bank to bank by the action of the current or other means.
 Girder bridge or Truss bridge, a bridge formed by girders, or by trusses resting upon abutments or piers.
 Lattice bridge, a bridge formed by lattice girders.
 Pontoon bridge, Ponton bridge. See under Pontoon.
 Skew bridge, a bridge built obliquely from bank to bank, as sometimes required in railway engineering.
 Suspension bridge. See under Suspension.
 Trestle bridge, a bridge formed of a series of short, simple girders resting on trestles.
 Tubular bridge, a bridge in the form of a hollow trunk or rectangular tube, with cellular walls made of iron plates riveted together, as the Britannia bridge over the Menai Strait, and the Victoria bridge at Montreal.
 Wheatstone's bridge Elec., a device for the measurement of resistances, so called because the balance between the resistances to be measured is indicated by the absence of a current in a certain wire forming a bridge or connection between two points of the apparatus; -- invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone.