SLIDE RULE Definition & Meaning

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slide rule

noun

a device for performing mathematical calculations, consisting essentially of a ruler having a sliding piece moving along it, both marked with graduated, usually logarithmic, scales: now largely replaced by the electronic calculator.

slide rule

noun

a mechanical calculating device consisting of two strips, one sliding along a central groove in the other, each strip graduated in two or more logarithmic scales of numbers, trigonometric functions, etc. It employs the same principles as logarithm tables

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of slide rule¹

1655–65 for earlier sense; 1875–80 for current sense

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Example Sentences

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Walter Shawlee chanced upon a slide rule from high school while looking through a drawer at his home in Kelowna, British Columbia.

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For about 350 years, humanity’s most innovative hand-held computer was something called a slide rule.

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With an abacus and a slide rule, earlier helpmeets, you had to know something of the mathematical process.

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Over a four-decade career that began with slide rules and moved into the age of computer modeling, Ms. Norwood became known as a resourceful problem solver who often hit upon simple but effective solutions.

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Over a four-decade career that began with slide rules and moved into the age of computer modeling, Norwood became known as a resourceful problem solver who often hit upon simple but effective solutions.

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