Definition of pivot in US English:

1The central point, pin, or shaft on which a mechanism turns or oscillates.

1. 1.1usually in singular A person or thing that plays a central part in an activity or organization.
   ‘the pivot of community life was the chapel’

   More example sentences

   • ‘No - she had been the pivot of it all, the centre, the core.’
   • ‘Pivot joints allow a rotating or twisting motion, like that of the head moving from side to side.’
   • ‘Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy, was a crucial pivot of U.S. policy from the 1970s forward.’
   • ‘It is implicitly, and has been historically, the strategic pivot of the world.’
   • ‘Germany used to be the pivot of the European economy.’
   • ‘Now we all realise exactly how much she meant to us all, a solid pivot of family and cheer.’
   • ‘This is the very pivot of Bush's foreign policy.’
   • ‘… In many ways, it is the pivot on which J.K. Rowling's entire tale revolves; the fabric from which the next tale will be woven.’
   • ‘Later one of Lee's officers would write that ‘the loss of this battle order constitutes one of the pivots on which turned the events of the war’.’
   • ‘The pivot of this arc of instability is the new state of Timor Leste.’
   • ‘He wavered, his reason rocking on the pivot of his conviction.’
   • ‘Washington-based realists tend to see the U.S. as the pivot of the future.’
   • ‘The pivot of this change was the Enlightenment, a time when the rational took ascendance over the mystical.’
   • ‘Mutual trust is the pivot on which the institution rests, he affirms.’
   • ‘It may also be the pivot of a terrible 10 years for South Africa.’
   • ‘These events would seem rather good evidence for the proposition that the Palestinian issue is only one of several important concerns in Middle East politics, not the pivot on which all regional events turn.’
   • ‘In fact, the lack of effective and efficient modern justice systems appears to be the pivot on which most Black African problems revolves.’
   • ‘Interesting facts on the turning pivot of the war - few generals in history had the luck of General George B. McClellan.’
   • ‘For the U.S., Okinawa is the pivot of its East Asian military presence.’
   • ‘Sirk, to his everlasting credit, steers her clear of self-parody by making her the pivot of the story.’

   Synonyms

   centre, focal point, focus, central point, hub, heart, nucleus, raison d'être, crux, keystone, cornerstone, linchpin, kingpin

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2. 1.2 The person or people about whom a body of troops wheels.
3. 1.3North American A player in a central position in a team sport.
   Example sentences

   • ‘Among an ever-improving crop of pivotmen, Duncan is still the most dependable and fundamentally sound.’
   • ‘All year, Austin just kept on thumping on the nation's primest pivots, with minimum offensive support and always with a smile.’
   • ‘The Caps' other centers - Trevor Linden, Andrei Nikolishin and Trent Whitfield - are decent pivots but not premier playmakers.’
   • ‘Colin Clarke was a pivot of real class, becoming more influential as the game evolved.’
   • ‘Until injuries abruptly curtailed his career, Willis Reed was a strong, mobile center who could handle brutes like Chamberlain as well as quicker pivotmen.’
   • ‘But he always had a Gretzky or a Mario Lemieux or a Mark Messier ahead of him in the pantheon of NHL pivotmen.’
   • ‘Kendrick Perkins is already a solid pivotman, so Ainge likely won't trade him.’
   • ‘Seattle had just acquired future Hall-of-Famer Patrick Ewing, one of the best pivots in the history of the game.’
   • ‘So maybe we're only short one dominant center, and not missing a league full of quality pivots.’
   • ‘Let's start with the pivotmen currently training with the Yankees down in Tampa.’
   • ‘Miller obviously is a top-drawer pivotman, but he's broken down toward the end of each of his NBA campaigns save for a truncated rookie year.’
   • ‘But the next wave of pivotmen won't all run the floor and stroke perimeter jumpers.’
   • ‘If Wallace is frequently overpowered by some of the league's more gargantuan pivotmen, guarding Jermaine O'Neal is Big Ben's chance to push around someone else.’
4. 1.4Basketball A movement in which the player holding the ball may move in any direction with one foot, while keeping the other (the pivot foot) in contact with the floor.
   Example sentences

   • ‘Put the ball down hard on the floor, before you pick up your pivot foot.’
   • ‘Once you receive the ball the question is often asked by many coaches how and or what pivot foot should you use.’
   • ‘As the pivot player makes contact with the floor, he pivots toward the basket, holding the ball high over his head.’
   • ‘The rear foot becomes the pivot foot, so don't move it if you stop dribbling.’
   • ‘Dunc is one of the few players in the NBA with a significant go-to move; his inside pivot into the rocker step position off the glass is deadly from 12 to 15 feet.’

1Turn on or as if on a pivot.

1. 1.1with object Provide (a mechanism) with a pivot; fix (a mechanism) on a pivot.
   Example sentences

   • ‘When wall-mounted, an optional mounting bracket pivots the handgun out before the door drops down to present the holster-mounted firearm.’
   • ‘You can see the gears that turned to pivot the enormous centre section of the bridge into the air, allowing riverboats to pass underneath.’
   • ‘The fourth pushchair was bought a few weeks after the third pushchair after we realised that we'd bought the first one without checking the front wheels were pivoted.’
   • ‘A pointer, called an alidade, was pivoted at the centre of the disk.’
   • ‘The secret was that both sets of wheels are pivoted in the Fairlie principle.’
2. 1.2pivot on Depend on.
   ‘your escape pivots on my disappearing with you’

   More example sentences

   • ‘It pivots on the mutual affirmation of each other as churches belonging to the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church of Jesus Christ.’
   • ‘It pivoted on two penalties in the last minute of the first half.’
   • ‘Yes, the 2000 primary debates between Al Gore and Bill Bradley pivoted on the fine print in their rival health-care plans.’
   • ‘The songs pivot on morphing bass lines rather than catchy samples.’
   • ‘No strategist in either party can predict with authority whether the election will pivot on the economy, foreign policy or a yet unknown factor.’
   • ‘It pivots on two domains of consciousness that appear to dominate displacement - memory and alienation.’
   • ‘There is time yet to revive this Premierleague campaign, but Rangers' Champions League involvement will pivot on the outcome of the next two games.’
   • ‘Unlike affordability, which mostly pivots on interest rates and household income, appreciation is influenced much more by supply and demand and represents the return on your investment.’
   • ‘Any discussion between Ottawa and the provinces predictably pivots on the issue of funding which level of government should pay for what and how much.’
   • ‘This has to be understood; her story pivots on this point.’
   • ‘Bang Edutainment's whole ethos pivots on the principle of ‘using entertainment to educate people’.’
   • ‘A regime that pivoted on paranoia slowly consumed itself.’
   • ‘But presidential nominations can pivot on such accidents of timing.’
   • ‘The spirited debate about online education pivots on the technological achievements of the past decade.’
   • ‘The plot pivots on an incident from Mickey's old days on the force, when a young WPC, Roberta Peel, asked him to lose some evidence to keep a community activist's son out of trouble.’
   • ‘This spectatorship, however - both Scottie's and the audience's - pivots on its dual nature: the act of looking is itself both active and passive at the same time.’
   • ‘Altogether, the president's phrase and the media's speculation played out as a kind of orchestrated duet pivoting on ambiguity.’
   • ‘Brian, the whole country is pivoting on what you might call a needle of suspense.’
   • ‘Okay, he drove a silly sports car and wore Prada trainers, but we had a proper conversation, pivoting on a number of diverse subjects, ranging from the importance of Holocaust Memorial Day to contemporary British theatre.’
   • ‘They pivot on a dozen hardened players, but the fringe does not match.’

   Synonyms

   depend, hinge, turn, centre, hang, rely, rest, be contingent

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