n. & v.
n. 1 a short shaft or pin on which something turns or oscillates. 2 a crucial or essential person, point, etc., in a scheme or enterprise. 3 Mil. the man or men about whom a body of troops wheels.
v. (pivoted, pivoting) 1 intr. turn on or as if on a pivot. 2 intr. (foll. by on, upon) hinge on; depend on. 3 tr. provide with or attach by a pivot. pivotable adj. pivotability n. pivotal adj.
[ F, of uncert. orig. ]