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piston
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- Piston - n. - 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.
- Pack - n. - To render impervious, as by filling or surrounding with suitable material, or to fit or adjust so as to move without giving passage to air, water, or steam; as, to pack a joint; to pack the piston of a steam engine.
- Forcer - n. - The solid piston of a force pump; the instrument by which water is forced in a pump.
- Cylinder - n. - The chamber of a steam engine in which the piston is moved by the force of steam.
- Spider - n. - A skeleton, or frame, having radiating arms or members, often connected by crosspieces; as, a casting forming the hub and spokes to which the rim of a fly wheel or large gear is bolted; the body of a piston head; a frame for strengthening a core or mold for a casting, etc.
- Condenser - n. - An instrument for condensing air or other elastic fluids, consisting of a cylinder having a movable piston to force the air into a receiver, and a valve to prevent its escape.
- Embolus - n. - Something inserted, as a wedge; the piston or sucker of a pump or syringe.
- Beam - n. - A heavy iron lever having an oscillating motion on a central axis, one end of which is connected with the piston rod from which it receives motion, and the other with the crank of the wheel shaft; -- called also working beam or walking beam.
- Trunk - n. - A large pipe forming the piston rod of a steam engine, of sufficient diameter to allow one end of the connecting rod to be attached to the crank, and the other end to pass within the pipe directly to the piston, thus making the engine more compact.
- Chyometer - n. - An instrument for measuring liquids. It consists of a piston moving in a tube in which is contained the liquid, the quantity expelled being indicated by the graduation upon the piston rod.
- Bucket - n. - The valved piston of a lifting pump.
- Lantern - n. - 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.
- Liner - n. - A lining within the cylinder, in which the piston works and between which and the outer shell of the cylinder a space is left to form a steam jacket.
- Indicator - n. - An instrument which draws a diagram showing the varying pressure in the cylinder of an engine or pump at every point of the stroke. It consists of a small cylinder communicating with the engine cylinder and fitted with a piston which the varying pressure drives upward more or less against the resistance of a spring. A lever imparts motion to a pencil which traces the diagram on a card wrapped around a vertical drum which is turned back and forth by a string connected with the piston rod of the engine. See Indicator card (below).
- Stroke - v. t. - The movement, in either direction, of the piston plunger, piston rod, crosshead, etc., as of a steam engine or a pump, in which these parts have a reciprocating motion; as, the forward stroke of a piston; also, the entire distance passed through, as by a piston, in such a movement; as, the piston is at half stroke.
- Plunger - n. - A long solid cylinder, used, instead of a piston or bucket, as a forcer in pumps.
- Collar - n. - A ring or round flange upon, surrounding, or against an object, and used for restraining motion within given limits, or for holding something to its place, or for hiding an opening around an object; as, a collar on a shaft, used to prevent endwise motion of the shaft; a collar surrounding a stovepipe at the place where it enters a wall. The flanges of a piston and the gland of a stuffing box are sometimes called collars.
- Crosshead - n. - A beam or bar across the head or end of a rod, etc., or a block attached to it and carrying a knuckle pin; as the solid crosspiece running between parallel slides, which receives motion from the piston of a steam engine and imparts it to the connecting rod, which is hinged to the crosshead.
- Packing - n. - A yielding ring, as of metal, which surrounds a piston and maintains a tight fit, as inside a cylinder, etc.
- Clearance - n. - The distance by which one object clears another, as the distance between the piston and cylinder head at the end of a stroke in a steam engine, or the least distance between the point of a cogwheel tooth and the bottom of a space between teeth of a wheel with which it engages.
- Bottom - v. i. - To reach or impinge against the bottom, so as to impede free action, as when the point of a cog strikes the bottom of a space between two other cogs, or a piston the end of a cylinder.