Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Lantern \Lan"tern\, n. [F. lanterne, L. lanterna, laterna, from
   Gr. ? light, torch. See {Lamp}.]
   1. Something inclosing a light, and protecting it from wind,
      rain, etc.; -- sometimes portable, as a closed vessel or
      case of horn, perforated tin, glass, oiled paper, or other
      material, having a lamp or candle within; sometimes fixed,
      as the glazed inclosure of a street light, or of a
      lighthouse light.

   2. (Arch.)
      (a) An open structure of light material set upon a roof,
          to give light and air to the interior.
      (b) A cage or open chamber of rich architecture, open
          below into the building or tower which it crowns.
      (c) A smaller and secondary cupola crowning a larger one,
          for ornament, or to admit light; such as the lantern
          of the cupola of the Capitol at Washington, or that of
          the Florence cathedral.

   3. (Mach.) A lantern pinion or trundle wheel. See {Lantern
      pinion} (below).

   4. (Steam Engine) A kind of cage inserted in a stuffing box
      and surrounding a piston rod, to separate the packing into
      two parts and form a chamber between for the reception of
      steam, etc.; -- called also {lantern brass}.

   5. (Founding) A perforated barrel to form a core upon.

   6. (Zo["o]l.) See {Aristotle's lantern}.

   Note: Fig. 1 represents a hand lantern; fig. 2, an arm
         lantern; fig. 3, a breast lantern; -- so named from the
         positions in which they are carried.

   {Dark lantern}, a lantern with a single opening, which may be
      closed so as to conceal the light; -- called also
      {bull's-eye}.

   {Lantern fly}, {Lantern carrier} (Zo["o]l.), any one of
      several species of large, handsome, hemipterous insects of
      the genera {Laternaria}, {Fulgora}, and allies, of the
      family {Fulgorid[ae]}. The largest species is {Laternaria
      phosphorea} of Brazil. The head of some species has been
      supposed to be phosphorescent.

   {Lantern jaws}, long, thin jaws; hence, a thin visage.

   {Lantern pinion}, {Lantern wheel} (Mach.), a kind of pinion
      or wheel having cylindrical bars or trundles, instead of
      teeth, inserted at their ends in two parallel disks or
      plates; -- so called as resembling a lantern in shape; --
      called also {wallower}, or {trundle}.

   {Lantern shell} (Zo["o]l.), any translucent, marine, bivalve
      shell of the genus {Anatina}, and allied genera.

   {Magic lantern}, an optical instrument consisting of a case
      inclosing a light, and having suitable lenses in a lateral
      tube, for throwing upon a screen, in a darkened room or
      the like, greatly magnified pictures from slides placed in
      the focus of the outer lens.

Pinion \Pin"ion\, n. [OF. pignon a pen, F., gable, pinion (in
   sense 5); cf. Sp. pi[~n]on pinion; fr. L. pinna pinnacle,
   feather, wing. See {Pin} a peg, and cf. {Pen} a feather,
   {Pennat}, {Pennon}.]
   1. A feather; a quill. --Shak.

   2. A wing, literal or figurative.

            Swift on his sooty pinions flits the gnome. --Pope.

   3. The joint of bird's wing most remote from the body.
      --Johnson.

   4. A fetter for the arm. --Ainsworth.

   5. (Mech.) A cogwheel with a small number of teeth, or
      leaves, adapted to engage with a larger wheel, or rack
      (see {Rack}); esp., such a wheel having its leaves formed
      of the substance of the arbor or spindle which is its
      axis.

   {Lantern pinion}. See under {Lantern}.

   {Pinion wire}, wire fluted longitudinally, for making the
      pinions of clocks and watches. It is formed by being drawn
      through holes of the shape required for the leaves or
      teeth of the pinions.

Source : WordNet®

lantern pinion
     n : a small pinion having cylindrical bars instead of teeth,
         used chiefly in inexpensive clocks [syn: {lantern wheel}]