From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrotaryro‧ta‧ry1 /ˈrəʊtəri $ ˈroʊ-/ adjective [only before noun] 1 TURNturning in a circle around a fixed point, like a wheel the rotary movement of the helicopter blades2 TEhaving a main part that turns like a wheel a rotary engine
Examples from the Corpus
rotary• Beat in eggs one at a time, using a rotary beater, until satiny and fluffy.• a rotary dial phone• Telephones used to have slower rotary dials.• Between these two displays are the rotary encoder control and four push buttons.• Not long after our purchase, the rotary engine, well, melted.• Men's razors some in two styles, either with a foil head or with rotary heads.• This in turn made it a simple matter to adapt Watt's engine to provide rotary motion.• the rotary movement of the helicopter's blades• The Linotype machine and high-capacity rotary press produced mass circulation newspapers, which-until radio and television came along-largely replaced personal-encounter politics.• There were about 45 rotary steam corn mills built before 1800.rotaryrotary2 noun (plural rotaries) [countable] American Englishx-ref a roundaboutOrigin rotary (1700-1800) Medieval Latin rotarius, from Latin rota; → ROTATE 