funicular : Idioms & Phrases

(Mech.), the force or action exerted by a rope in drawing together the supports to which its ends are Fastened, when acted upon by forces applied in a direction transverse to the rope, as in the archer's bow.

(Mech.), an apparatus for illustrating certain principles in statics, consisting of a cord or chain attached at one end to a fixed point, and having the other passed over a pulley and sustaining a weight, while one or more other weights are suspended from the cord at points between the fixed support and the pulley.

(Mech.), the polygonal figure assumed by a cord fastened at its extremities, and sustaining weights at different points.

noun a railway up the side of a mountain pulled by a moving cable and having counterbalancing ascending and descending cars
funicular; cable railway.