OTTO CYCLE n.
A four-stroke cycle for internal-combustion engines consisting of the following operations: First stroke, suction into cylinder of explosive charge, as of gas and air; second stroke, compression, ignition, and explosion of this charge; third stroke (the working stroke), expansion of the gases; fourth stroke, expulsion…
PILE n.
Pile cap, a beam resting upon and connecting the heads of piles. -- Pile driver, or Pile engine, an apparatus for driving down piles, consisting usually of a high frame, with suitable appliances for raising to a height (by animal or steam power, the explosion of gunpowder, etc.) a heavy mass of iron, which falls upon…
PILOT n.
ad, ship biscuit. -- Pilot cloth, a coarse, stout kind of cloth for overcoats. -- Pilot engine, a locomotive going in advance of a train to make sure that the way is clear. -- Pilot fish. (Zoöl) (a) A pelagic carangoid fish (Naucrates ductor); -- so named because it is often seen in company with a shark, swimming ne…
PIPE n. 2 definitions
y which it contains. Pipe fitter, one who fits pipes together, or applies pipes, as to an engine or a building. -- Pipe fitting, a piece, as a coupling, an elbow, a valve, etc., used for connecting lengths of pipe or as accessory to a pipe. -- Pipe office, an ancient office in the Court of Exchequer, in which the cle…
PITCH n.
one half pitch; whole pitch; or by the height in parts of the half span, especially among engineers; or by degrees, as a pitch of 30°, of 45°, etc.; or by the rise and run, that is, the ratio of the height to the half span; as, a pitch of six rise to ten run. Equilateral pitch is where the two sloping sides with the sp…
PLUNGER n.
bucket, a piston, without a valve, in a pump. -- Plunger pole, the pump rod of a pumping engine. -- Plunger pump, a pump, as for water, having a plunger, instead of a piston, to act upon the water. It may be single-acting or double- acting