4. The person or persons authorized to administer the laws; the ruling power; the administration.
When we, in England, speak of the government, we generally understand the ministers of the crown for
the time being.
Mozley & W. 5. The body politic governed by one authority; a state; as, the governments of Europe.
6. Management of the limbs or body. Shak.
7. (Gram.) The influence of a word in regard to construction, requiring that another word should be in
a particular case.
Governmental
(Gov"ern*men"tal) a. [Cf. F. gouvernemental.] Pertaining to government; made by
government; as, governmental duties.
Governor
(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.
The illustration shows a form of governor commonly used for steam engines, in wich a heavy sleeve
(a) sliding on a rapidly revolving spindle 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 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.
