Word Study
piston
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Noun piston has 2 senses
- piston(n = noun.person) walter piston - United States neoclassical composer (1894-1976); Array is a kind of composer
- piston(n = noun.artifact) plunger - mechanical device that has a plunging or thrusting motion; Array is a kind of mechanical device
has parts: piston ring, piston rod
is a part of reciprocating engine
CIDE DICTIONARY
piston, n. [F. piston; cf. It. pistone piston, also pestone a large pestle; all fr. L. pinsere, pistum, to pound, to stamp. See Pestle, Pistil.].
A sliding piece which either is moved by, or moves against, fluid pressure. It usually consists of a short cylinder fitting within a cylindrical vessel along which it moves, back and forth. It is used in steam engines to receive motion from the steam, and in pumps to transmit motion to a fluid; also for other purposes. [1913 Webster]
Piston head (Steam Eng.), that part of a piston which is made fast to the piston rod. -- Piston rod, a rod by which a piston is moved, or by which it communicates motion. -- Piston valve (Steam Eng.), a slide valve, consisting of a piston, or connected pistons, working in a cylindrical case which is provided with ports that are traversed by the valve.
OXFORD DICTIONARY
piston, n.
1 a disc or short cylinder fitting closely within a tube in which it moves up and down against a liquid or gas, used in an internal-combustion engine to impart motion, or in a pump to receive motion.
2 a sliding valve in a trumpet etc.
1 a disc or short cylinder fitting closely within a tube in which it moves up and down against a liquid or gas, used in an internal-combustion engine to impart motion, or in a pump to receive motion.
2 a sliding valve in a trumpet etc.
Idiom
piston-ring a ring on a piston sealing the gap between the piston and the cylinder wall. piston-rod a rod or crankshaft attached to a piston to drive a wheel or to impart motion.
Etymology
F f. It. pistone var. of pestone augment. of pestello PESTLE
ROGET THESAURUS
piston
Stopper
N stopper, stopple, plug, cork, bung, spike, spill, stopcock, tap, rammer, ram, ramrod, piston, stop-gap, wadding, stuffing, padding, stopping, dossil, pledget, tompion, tourniquet, cover, valve, vent peg, spigot, slide valve, janitor, doorkeeper, porter, warder, beadle, cerberus, ostiary.
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