1. [N. Amer, Austral, NZ] Lifting device consisting of a platform or cage that is raised and lowered mechanically in a vertical shaft in order to move people from one floor to another in a building
   "They took the elevator to the top floor of the skyscraper";
   - lift [Brit]
    
2. The airfoil on the tailplane of an aircraft that makes it ascend or descend
   "The pilot adjusted the elevator to change the plane's altitude"
    
3. A lifting device consisting of a long moving belt with scoops for lifting grain or other particulate material
   "The grain elevator efficiently transported the wheat from ground level to the storage silos"

Derived forms: elevators

Type of: aerofoil [Brit], airfoil [N. Amer], control surface, lifting device, surface

Part of: building, edifice, horizontal tail

Encyclopedia: Elevator