sprocket

• splocket

Unknown. First attested in the 16th century. Perhaps related to Italian rocchetto (“spool”), spoletta (“spool”), sprone (“spur”), or English spoke, spike, spur.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈspɹɒkɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒkɪt

sprocket (plural sprockets)

2. (mechanical engineering) A toothed wheel that enmeshes with a chain or other perforated band.

   Synonym: sprocket wheel

   Coordinate terms: gear wheel, cogwheel

3. (usually in the plural) The tooth of such a wheel.
4. (architecture) A flared extension at the base of a sloped roof.
5. A placeholder name for an unnamed, unspecified, or hypothetical manufactured good or product.

   Synonym: widget

   Suppose we have a widget factory that produces 100 widgets per year, and a sprocket factory that produces 200 sprockets per year.

Although sprockets are sometimes referred to as gears, there is a technical distinction between the two: sprockets interact with chains, whereas gears interact with other gears.

• intersprocket
• sprocket wheel

• sprocket on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• pet rocks