Search the Dictionary

h the elastic force of condensed air is used to discharge the ball. The air is powerfully compressed into a reservoir attached to the gun, by a condensing pump, and is controlled by a valve actuated by the trigger.

f fourteen -- footed Crustacea, inhabiting both fresh and salt water. The body is usually compressed laterally, and the anterior pairs or legs are directed downward and forward, but the posterior legs are usually turned upward and backward. The beach flea is an example. See Tetradecapoda and Arthrostraca.…

To bind fast; to constrict; to contract; to cause parts to draw together; to compress. Which contraction . . . astringeth the moistuBacon.

on each square inch. -- Atmospheric railway, one in which pneumatic power, obtained from compressed air or the creation of a vacuum, is the propelling force. -- Atmospheric tides. See under Tide.

Acting or moving automatically by means of compressed air.

xis (Mech.), the line of demarcation between the horizontal elastic forces of tension and compression, exerted by the fibers in any cross section of a girder. -- Optic axis of a crystal, the direction in which a ray of transmitted light suffers no double refraction. All crystals, not of the isometric system, are eithe…

A premature explosion in the cylinder of a gas or oil engine during the exhaust or the compression stroke, tending to drive the piston in a direction reverse to that in which it should travel; also, an explosion in the exhaust passages of such ah engine.

esembling a bandage; that which is bound over or round something to cover, strengthen, or compress it; a ligature. Zeal too had a place among the rest, with a bandage over her eyes. Addison.

To flatten (metal) by hammering, so as to compress it inwardly and spread it outwardly.

mething, as by tying; to encircle with something; as, to bind a belt about one; to bind a compress upon a part.

A species of grass (Poa compressa) with bluish green stems, valuable in thin gravelly soils; wire grass. Kentucky blue grass, a species of grass (Poa pratensis) which has running rootstocks and spreads rapidly. It is valuable as a pasture grass, as it endures both winter and drought better than other kinds, and is very…

A European fish (Box vulgaris), having a compressed body and bright colors; -- called also box, and bogue.

pressure, support any part of the body, or make a bandage sit easy upon a wounded part; a compress. This arm shall be a bolster for thy head. Gay.

the setting sun. Cunningham. Burnishing machine, a machine for smoothing and polishing by compression, as in making paper collars.

expansion to a desired point; (2) adiabatic expansion to a desired point; (3) isothermal compression to such a point that (4) adiabatic compression brings it back to its initial state.

in connection with a jar of water having an elastic top, to illustrate the effect of the compression or expansion of air in changing the specific gravity of bodies. -- Cartesion oval (Geom.), a curve such that, for any point of the curve mr + m'r' = c, where r and r' are the distances of the point from the two foci a…

A marine fish of the family Chætodontidæ. The chætodonts have broad, compressed bodies, and usually bright colors.

The skin is covered with fine granmulations; the tail is prehensile, and the body is much compressed laterally, giving it a high back.

intenance. Chapeau bras ( Etym: [F. chapeau hat + bras arm], a hat so made that it can be compressed and carried under the arm without injury. Such hats were particularly worn on dress occasions by gentlemen in the 18th century. A chapeau bras is now worn in the United States army by general and staff officers.…

The upper or lower part of a truss, usually horizontal, resisting compression or tension. Waddell. Accidental, Common, and Vocal chords. See under Accidental, Common, and Vocal. -- Chord of an arch. See Illust. of Arch. -- Chord of curvature, a chord drawn from any point of a curve, in the circle of curvature for tha…