Search the Dictionary

s bent, drawn, pressed, or twisted; springy; having the power of rebounding; as, a bow is elastic; the air is elastic; India rubber is elastic. Capable of being drawn out by force like a piece of elastic gum, and by its own elasticity returning, when the force is removed, to its former position. Paley.…

Elastic. [R.] Bentley.

In an elastic manner; by an elastic power; with a spring.

The quality of being elastic; the inherent property in bodies by which they recover their former figure or dimensions, after the removal of external pressure or altering force; springiness; tendency to rebound; as, the elasticity of caoutchouc; the elasticity of the air.

The quality of being elastic; elasticity.

Pertaining to laughter; used in laughing. "Gelastic muscles." Sir T. Browne.

Not elastic.

Want of elasticity.

Not having elasticity.

Not elastic; inelastic.

Inelasticity.

A system of elastic springs for relieving the strain upon a rope, as in deep-sea dredging.

e other is joined to another receiver. It is used in distillations, to give more space to elastic vapors, to increase the length of the neck of a retort, or to unite two vessels whose openings have different diameters. [Written also adapter.]

Having the form or nature of air, or of an elastic fluid; gaseous. Hence fig.: Unreal.

The science of measuring the air, including the doctrine of its pressure, elasticity, rarefaction, and condensation; pneumatics.

The science that treats of the equilibrium of elastic fluids, or that of bodies sustained in them. Hence it includes aëronautics.

he earth; the atmosphere. It is invisible, inodorous, insipid, transparent, compressible, elastic, and ponderable.

A drill driven by the elastic pressure of condensed air; a pneumatic drill. Knight.

A kind of gun in which 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.

lar tissue; an effusion of serum into the cellular substance, occasioning a soft, pale, inelastic swelling of the skin.