Universal joint Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun coupling that connects two rotating shafts allowing freedom of movement in all directions
    universal.
    • in motor vehicles a universal joint allows the driveshaft to move up and down as the vehicle passes over bumps

WordNet

Definitions
  1. (Mach.), a contrivance used for joining two shafts or parts of a machine endwise, so that the one may give rotary motion to the other when forming an angle with it, or may move freely in all directions with respect to the other, as by means of a cross connecting the forked ends of the two shafts (Fig. 1). Since this joint can not act when the angle of the shafts is less than 140°, a double joint of the same kind is sometimes used for giving rotary motion at angles less than 140° (Fig. 2).

Webster 1913