bimetallic strip

British

noun

a strip consisting of two metals of different coefficients of expansion welded together so that it buckles on heating: used in thermostats, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It is similar to the way a thermostat’s bimetallic strip bends in response to changing temperature6.

From Nature

The tension between these two layers causes the fabric to curl and shrink in response to water vapour — in the same way that a bimetallic strip bends in response to temperature changes.

From Nature

If you pull off the cover of that thermostat there’s a coil with a bimetallic strip.

From Scientific American

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023