cylinder
Geometry. a surface or solid bounded by two parallel planes and generated by a straight line moving parallel to the given planes and tracing a curve bounded by the planes and lying in a plane perpendicular or oblique to the given planes.
any cylinderlike object or part, whether solid or hollow.
the rotating part of a revolver, containing the chambers for the cartridges.
(in a pump) a cylindrical chamber in which a piston slides to move or compress a fluid.
(in an engine) a cylindrical chamber in which the pressure of a gas or liquid moves a sliding piston.
(in certain printing presses)
a rotating cylinder that produces the impression and under which a flat form to be printed from passes.
either of two cylinders, one carrying a curved form or plate to be printed from, that rotate against each other in opposite directions.
(in certain locks) a cylindrical device for retaining the bolt until tumblers have been pushed out of its way.
(in a screw or cylindrical gear) an imaginary cylindrical form, concentric to the axis, defining the pitch or the inner or outer ends of the threads or teeth.
Computers. the tracks of a magnetic disk that are accessible from a single radial position of the access mechanism.
Textiles. the main roller on a carding machine, especially the roller covered with card clothing that works in combination with the worker and stripper rollers in carding fibers.
Archaeology. a cylindrical or somewhat barrel-shaped stone or clay object bearing a cuneiform inscription or a carved design, worn by the Babylonians, Assyrians, and kindred peoples as a seal and amulet.
to furnish with a cylinder or cylinders.
to subject to the action of a cylinder or cylinders.
Origin of cylinder
1Other words from cylinder
- cyl·in·der·like, adjective
Words Nearby cylinder
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use cylinder in a sentence
Ice cores are cylinders removed from such ice, such as a glacier.
Analyze This: Perfumes from everyday products collect in distant ice | Carolyn Wilke | September 30, 2020 | Science News For StudentsAnderson filled a cylinder with uncooked rice grains and sealed it off, heating the container while rotating it and increasing the interior pressure.
The Rise and Fall of the Rice Cake, America’s One-Time Favorite Health Snack | Brenna Houck | September 17, 2020 | EaterA little over two years ago, a shipping container-sized cylinder bearing Microsoft’s name and logo was lowered onto the ocean floor off the northern coast of Scotland.
Microsoft Had a Crazy Idea to Put Servers Under Water—and It Totally Worked | Vanessa Bates Ramirez | September 17, 2020 | Singularity HubEven if Milwaukee was guilty of treating the seeding games like a tune-up, Giannis’s game was still firing on all cylinders.
Who Made The Most Of The NBA Restart? | Neil Paine (neil.paine@fivethirtyeight.com) | August 19, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightIn new lab experiments, physicists dropped a cylinder onto this goop.
Physicists foil classic oobleck science trick | Emily Conover | June 9, 2020 | Science News For Students
When we step into that cylinder of dry air and certain doom, all we can think is what it will be like when it crashes.
The Malaysian Air Tragedy Reawakens a Primal Fear | Kelly Williams Brown | July 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe took a small metal cylinder from his pajama pocket and picked up the guitar.
Stanley Booth on the Life and Hard Times of Blues Genius Furry Lewis | Stanley Booth | June 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThat cylinder is in a chamber within the satellite, not unlike an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.
The Equivalence Principle and Testing Einstein With Spaceships and Atoms | Matthew R. Francis | June 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAgate was widely used to carve high-value objects like signets and cylinder seals in the ancient Near East.
Spain’s New ‘Holy Grail’: Jesus Couldn’t Afford That Kind of Bling | Candida Moss | April 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe point of having lots of businesses under one roof is that not every unit will fire on every cylinder in every quarter.
I believe you will find this an exceeding good duty for a 5½-inch cylinder engine.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickAt Wheal Alfred they have a 64-inch cylinder; the air-pump is 20 inches, and the stroke is half that of the engine.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickA four-way cock near the top of the cylinder turned the steam on and off.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickA flattish cover was bolted on to the top of the boiler, and the cylinder was let down into this top.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickPeople used to say that she forked the mine better than two of Boulton and Watt's 80-inch cylinder engines.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis Trevithick
British Dictionary definitions for cylinder
/ (ˈsɪlɪndə) /
a solid consisting of two parallel planes bounded by identical closed curves, usually circles, that are interconnected at every point by a set of parallel lines, usually perpendicular to the planes. Volume base area × length
a surface formed by a line moving round a closed plane curve at a fixed angle to it
any object shaped like a cylinder
the chamber in a reciprocating internal-combustion engine, pump, or compressor within which the piston moves: See also cylinder block
the rotating mechanism of a revolver, situated behind the barrel and containing cartridge chambers
printing any of the rotating drums on a printing press
Also called: cylinder seal a cylindrical seal of stone, clay, or precious stone decorated with linear designs, found in the Middle East and Balkans: dating from about 6000 bc
Also called: hot-water cylinder British a vertical cylindrical tank for storing hot water, esp an insulated one made of copper used in a domestic hot-water system
firing on all cylinders working or performing at full capability
(tr) to provide (a system) with cylinders
Origin of cylinder
1Derived forms of cylinder
- cylinder-like, adjective
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
Scientific definitions for cylinder
[ sĭl′ən-dər ]
A three-dimensional surface or solid object bounded by a curved surface and two parallel circles of equal size at the ends. The curved surface is formed by all the line segments joining corresponding points of the two parallel circles.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with cylinder
see firing on all cylinders.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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