Search the Dictionary

eeble manner; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy; slight; as, faint efforts; faint resistance. The faint prosecution of the war. Sir J. Davies.

elow the main keel, used to serve both as a protection and to increase the shio's lateral resistance. -- False key, a picklock. -- False leg. (Zoöl.) See Proleg. -- False membrane (Med.), the fibrinous deposit formed in croup and diphtheria, and resembling in appearance an animal membrane. -- False papers (Naut.),…

turn it when it leaves the water so that the blade will be horizontal and offer the least resistance to air while reaching for another stroke. -- To tar and feather a person, to smear him with tar and cover him with feathers, as a punishment or an indignity.

To act in opposition to anything; to struggle against; to contend; to strive; to make resistance. To fight shy, to avoid meeting fairly or at close quarters; to keep out of reach.

ble her to sail close to the wind and to make the least possible leeway by offering great resistance to lateral motion through the water.

A state of resistance to evaporation or volatilization by heat; -- said of metals. Bacon.

volving axis, to act as a fanner, or to equalize or impede the motion of machinery by the resistance of the air, as in the striking part of a clock.

Using force against opposition or resistance; obtained by compulsion; effected by force; as, forcible entry or abduction. In embraces of King James . . . forcible and unjust. Swift. Forcible entry and detainer (Law), the entering upon and taking and withholding of land and tenements by actual force and violence, and wi…

To arm or prepare for attack or resistance before the time of need. South.

The resistance which a body meets with from the surface on which it moves. It may be resistance to sliding motion, or to rolling motion.

eam engines, water wheels, and other machinery, to maintain nearly uniform speed when the resistances and motive force are variable.

ess and complaint; a wrong done and suffered; that which gives ground for remonstrance or resistance, as arising from injustice, tyranny, etc.; injury.

Moving in opposite directions; -- said of a lever, pulley, etc., in which the resistance and the actuating force are on opposite sides of the fulcrum or axis.

Moving in the same direction; -- said of a lever or pulley in which the resistance and the actuating force are both on the same side of the fulcrum or axis.

ces acting upon a body are changed, as if from velocity or internal friction; a temporary resistance to change from a condition previously invuced, observed in magnetism, thermoelectricity, etc., on reversal of polarity.

The apparent resistance in an electric circuit to the flow of an alternating current, analogous to the actual electrical resistance to a direct current, being the ratio of electromotive force to the current. It is equal to R2 + X2, where R = ohmic resistance, X = reactance. For an inductive circuit, X = 2pfL, where f =…

Destitute of the power of moving itself, or of active resistance to motion; as, matter is inert.

equivalent to the energy expended in one second by an electric current of one ampere in a resistance of one ohm. One joule is approximately equal to 0.738 foot pounds. Joule's equivalent. See under Equivalent, n.

t of an electric circuit is measured by the product of the square of the current into the resistance of that part of the circuit. If the current

prevent relative turning; sometimes holding by friction alone, but more frequently by its resistance to shearing, being usually embedded partly in the shaft and partly in the crank, pulley, etc.