Technology: Terms and Concepts

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English Further reading

spirit level

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

spirit level tool for determining whether a surface is horizontal. It consists essentially of a slightly bent transparent tube that is held in a frame. The tube contains some alcohol, ether, or similar fluid but is not entirely filled, so that it also contains a small bubble. The position of the bubble within the tube indicates whether the instrument is horizontal. The spirit level used by carpenters and masons has two tubes at right angles to each other, so that the device registers a vertical as well as a horizontal position. The plumb line was used to determine vertical position from ancient times until the 19th cent. At that time the spirit level, which was invented in France during the 17th cent., came into general use and replaced the plumb line in some applications.

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spirit level

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

spir·it lev·el • n. a device consisting of a sealed glass tube partially filled with alcohol or other liquid, containing an air bubble whose position reveals whether a surface is perfectly level.Also called level.

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"spirit level." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"spirit level." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-spiritlevel.html

"spirit level." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-spiritlevel.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Fighting spirits: in the conflict with spirits makers, brewers are their own... Magazine article from: Modern Brewery Age; 11/17/2003
	Spirit is what sets some schools apart and makes them special.(Sports Extra) Newspaper article from: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL); 9/15/2006
	Spirit-writing and the development of Chinese cults. Magazine article from: Sociology of Religion; 12/22/1998