All 9 Uses

pendulum
in
The Pit and the Pendulum
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THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM Impia tortorum longos hic turba furores Sanguinis innocui, non satiata, aluit.†
It was the painted figure of Time as he is commonly represented, save that, in lieu of a scythe, he held what, at a casual glance, I supposed to be the pictured image of a huge pendulum such as we see on antique clocks.†
The sweep of the pendulum had increased in extent by nearly a yard.†
There was another interval of utter insensibility; it was brief; for, upon again lapsing into life there had been no perceptible descent in the pendulum.†
The vibration of the pendulum was at right angles to my length.†
Could I have broken the fastenings above the elbow, I would have seized and attempted to arrest the pendulum.†
Was it probable that the bandage crossed my bosom in the track of the pendulum?†
The measured movement of the pendulum disturbed them not at all.
*

pendulum = a weight hanging from a fixed location so that the weight swings freely back and forth under the influence of gravity -- such as is seen in some mechanical clocks
But the stroke of the pendulum already pressed upon my bosom.†

Definitions:

(1) (pendulum)
something that swings or shifts back and forth between two positions -- often seen in a swinging weight or in changing opinions
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)