Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Capstan \Cap"stan\, n. [F. cabestan, fr. Sp. cabestrante,
   cabrestante, fr. cabestrar to bind with a halter, fr.
   cabestrohalter, fr. L. capistrum halter, fr. capere to hold
   (see {Capacious}); or perh. the Spanish is fr. L. caper goat
   + stans, p. pr. of stare to stand; cf. F. ch[`e]vre she-goat,
   also a machine for raising heavy weights.]
   A vertical cleated drum or cylinder, revolving on an upright
   spindle, and surmounted by a drumhead with sockets for bars
   or levers. It is much used, especially on shipboard, for
   moving or raising heavy weights or exerting great power by
   traction upon a rope or cable, passing around the drum. It is
   operated either by steam power or by a number of men walking
   around the capstan, each pushing on the end of a lever fixed
   in its socket. [Sometimes spelt {Capstern}, but improperly.]

   {Capstan bar}, one of the long bars or levers by which the
      capstan is worked; a handspike..

   {To pawl the capstan}, to drop the pawls so that they will
      catch in the notches of the pawl ring, and prevent the
      capstan from turning back.

   {To rig the capstan}, to prepare the for use, by putting the
      bars in the sockets.

   {To surge the capstan}, to slack the tension of the rope or
      cable wound around it.