Gov"ern*or (?), n. [OE.
governor, governour, OF. governeor, F.
gouverneur, fr. L. gubernator steersman, ruler,
governor. See Govern.] 1. One who
governs; especially, one who is invested with the supreme executive
authority in a State; a chief ruler or magistrate; as, the
governor of Pennsylvania. "The governor of the
town." Shak.
2. One who has the care or guardianship of a
young man; a tutor; a guardian.
3. (Naut.) A pilot; a steersman.
[R.]
4. (Mach.) A contrivance applied to
steam engines, water wheels, and other machinery, to maintain nearly
uniform speed when the resistances and motive force are
variable.
&fist; The illustration shows a form of governor commonly used
for steam engines, in wich a heavy sleeve (a) sliding on a
rapidly revolving spindle (b), driven by the engine, is raised
or lowered, when the speed varies, by the changing centrifugal force
of two balls (c c) to which it is connected by links (d
d), the balls being attached to arms (e e) which are
jointed to the top of the spindle. The sleeve is connected with the
throttle valve or cut-off through a lever (f), and its motion
produces a greater supply of steam when the engine runs too slowly
and a less supply when too fast.
Governor cut-off (Steam Engine), a
variable cut-off gear in which the governor acts in such a way as to
cause the steam to be cut off from entering the cylinder at points of
the stroke dependent upon the engine's speed. --
Hydraulic governor (Mach.), a governor
which is operated by the action of a liquid in flowing; a
cataract.
