gin block

Gin \Gin\, n. [A contraction of engine.]
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   1. Contrivance; artifice; a trap; a snare. --Chaucer.
      Spenser.
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   2.
      (a) A machine for raising or moving heavy weights,
          consisting of a tripod formed of poles united at the
          top, with a windlass, pulleys, ropes, etc.
      (b) (Mining) A hoisting drum, usually vertical; a whim.
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   3. A machine for separating the seeds from cotton; a cotton
      gin.
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   Note: The name is also given to an instrument of torture
         worked with screws, and to a pump moved by rotary
         sails.
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   {Gin block}, a simple form of tackle block, having one wheel,
      over which a rope runs; -- called also {whip gin},
      {rubbish pulley}, and {monkey wheel}.

   {Gin power}, a form of horse power for driving a cotton gin.
      

   {Gin race}, or {Gin ring}, the path of the horse when putting
      a gin in motion. --Halliwell.

   {Gin saw}, a saw used in a cotton gin for drawing the fibers
      through the grid, leaving the seed in the hopper.

   {Gin wheel}.
      (a) In a cotton gin, a wheel for drawing the fiber through
          the grid; a brush wheel to clean away the lint.
      (b) (Mining) the drum of a whim.
          [1913 Webster]