pivot

A thing on which something turns; specifically a metal pointed pin or short shaft in machinery, such as the end of an axle or spindle.

The weight of the body and the traction and braking forces are taken by the conventional dished bogie centre pivot with phosphor-bronze liner; this type of centre pivot facilitates passage over marshalling yard humps.

Something or someone having a paramount significance in a certain situation.

“The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved. Mrs. Yule had an only son, namely, William, to whom she was passionately attached ; but, like many a fond mother, she had the desire of mapping out that son's future entirely according to her own ideas.[…]”

Act of turning on one foot.

Sandy Weill was the man who stitched Citigroup together in the 1990s and in the process helped bury the Glass-Steagall act, a Depression-era law separating retail and investment banking. Last month he performed a perfect pivot: he now wants regulators to undo his previous work.

The officer or soldier who simply turns in his place while the company or line moves around him in wheeling.

A player with responsibility for co-ordinating their team in a particular jam.

To turn on an exact spot.

To make a sudden or swift change in strategy, policy, etc.

Mr. Shah’s new business has signed up 25 New York City hotels and raised $1.5 million from angel investors and $3 million from a seed round. Yet three months into his new project, he has had to pivot again, realizing that his best customers are large businesses, not individuals.

“Entrepreneurs usually have some inkling about a problem they can solve,” he said. “But typically they’re not exactly right. So if you survive long enough, you pivot and pivot and pivot and find what sticks.”

To make a sudden or swift change in strategy, policy, etc.