[f. TURN v. + BUCKLE sb.]
1. A catch or fastening for window casements, shutters, etc., consisting of a thin flat bar pivoted so that it falls by its weight into a slit or groove.
1703. Turn-buckle [see turn-bout, TURN-].
1717. Inventory of Goods (MS.). One Glass Window, One Casemt with a Turnbuckle.
1859. F. A. Griffiths, Artill. Man. (1862), 184. Turnbuckles, small … 6.
2. A coupling with internal screw threads for connecting metal rods lengthwise or for regulating their length or tension; transf. a device for coupling electric wires (Funk’s Stand. Dict., 1895).
1877. Knight, Dict. Mech., Turn-buckle,… (Nautical), a link used for setting up and tightening the iron rods employed as stays for the smoke-stack.
1895. Outing (U.S.), XXVI. 44. Deadeyes and lanyards are fast giving way before the advance of the turnbuckle.
