piston

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a solid disk or cylinder that moves tightly inside a larger cylinder to transmit pressure or drive a machine

   Steam forced the piston upward inside the engine's cylinder.

2. 2
   noun

   a movable valve on a brass instrument that changes the length of its air path and therefore its pitch

   The trumpeter pressed the second piston to change the note.

Common collocations

• piston rod Noun + noun

Borrowed from French piston, from Italian pistone ('large pestle'), related to pestare ('to pound or crush'). The mechanical part was named for its pestle-like plunging motion.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images