aneroid barometer

American  

noun

1. a device for measuring atmospheric pressure, often specially calibrated for use as an altimeter, consisting of a box or chamber partially exhausted of air, having an elastic top and a pointer to indicate the degree of compression of the top caused by the external air.

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aneroid barometer British  

noun

1. a device for measuring atmospheric pressure without the use of fluids. It consists of a partially evacuated metal chamber, the thin corrugated lid of which is displaced by variations in the external air pressure. This displacement is magnified by levers and made to operate a pointer

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aneroid barometer Scientific  

/ ăn′ə-roid′ /

1. A barometer consisting of a thin elastic disk covering a chamber that contains a partial vacuum. High atmospheric pressure pushes against the disk and causes it to bulge inward, while low pressure does not push as hard, allowing the disk to bulge outward. An aneroid barometer is smaller and more portable than a mercury barometer and, when used with a barograph, can record up to a week's worth of data. Aneroid barometers are used extensively in aviation as part of altimeters.

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Etymology

Origin of aneroid barometer

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Trekking to a mountain top, he used an aneroid barometer to help him calculate its height.

From BBC • Nov. 13, 2013

The aneroid barometer, and my watch are seen suspended alongside. 

From The Voyage Alone in the Yawl "Rob Roy" by MacGregor, John

Muir's aneroid barometer showed a height of about seven thousand feet, and the wall of rock towered threateningly above us, leaning out in places, a thousand feet or so above the glacier.

From Alaska Days with John Muir by Young, Samual Hall

It should be understood that the aneroid barometer is not an independent instrument; it is merely a device for representing the movements of the mercurial barometer.

From Scientific American, Volume 40, No. 13, March 29, 1879 A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures by Various

We saw Donaldson pull the safety valve wide open, draw his sheath knife ready to cut the drag rope, standing rigid, with his eyes riveted upon the aneroid barometer.

From The Red-Blooded Heroes of the Frontier by Bronson, Edgar Beecher