weather vane

Definition

A mechanical device rotating around one axis and attached to an elevated object such as a roof for showing the direction of the wind.

Example Sentences

• "From the graveyard gate one can count a dozen gayly painted farmhouses; the gilded weather-vanes on the big red barns wink at each other across the green and brown and yellow fields."
• "This one is surmounted by a clock-tower with a bent weather-vane - the latter being the only disorderly object in sight."
• "Since Elaine Showalter's 1985 article on the topic, Ophelia has been singled out as a role that depends for its power on the expression of female sexual desire, and, because of this, one that acts as a weather vane for attitudes towards women's sexuality."