detent

English

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detent

/dɪˈtɛnt/
/ˈdiːtɛnt/

Rhymes with -ɛnt

Where it comes from

From French détente, from Latin tendō (“to stretch”).

noun detents

That which locks or unlocks a movement; a catch (stopping mechanism), pawl, or dog; especially, in clockwork, the catch which locks and unlocks the wheelwork in striking. A UHF tuner having 70 detent positions with fine tuning capability at all locations. Coarse tuning is accomplished via a toothed, detented disk and a spirally-extending rim having a follower lever operable therewith.

verb detents · detenting · detented

The action of locking or unlocking movement by way of a detent mechanism

Translations

Every language

noun which locks or unlocks a movement

Español	retén, detenedor
Deutsch	Sperrklinke, Arretierung

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MLA

"detent." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/detent. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

detent. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/detent

Chicago

"detent." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/detent.

BibTeX

@misc{detent_2026,
  title = {detent},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/detent},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}