rotor: Meaning and Definition of

ro•tor

1. a rotating member of a machine. Cf.(def. 1).
2. a system of rotating airfoils, as the horizontal ones of a helicopter or of the compressor of a jet engine.
3. any of a number of tall, cylindrical devices mounted on a special ship and rotated in such a way that the Magnus effect of wind impinging on the cylinders is used to drive and maneuver the vessel.
4. (in a self-winding watch) a weight eccentrically mounted on an arbor for keeping the mainspring wound.