cylinder

[sil-in-der]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cylinder ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

to furnish with a cylinder or cylinders.

to subject to the action of a cylinder or cylinders.

Origin of cylinder

1560–70; < Latin cylindrus < Greek kýlindros roller, cylinder, akin to kylíndein to roll

Related formscyl·in·der·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cylinder

barrel

Examples from the Web for cylinder

Contemporary Examples of cylinder

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
That 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
Agate 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 point of having lots of businesses under one roof is that not every unit will fire on every cylinder in every quarter.
So Long, Washington Post
Daniel Gross
August 5, 2013
He trades Pearl, 12, to a neighbor for some quilts, not quite a gallon of cylinder oil, and $7.
American Dreams: ‘Tobacco Road’ by Erskine Caldwell
Nathaniel Rich
April 30, 2012

Historical Examples of cylinder

His assistant then turned the cock and shut off the gas from the cylinder.
Jennie Baxter, Journalist
Robert Barr
He employed a cylinder 12 centimeters in diameter fitted with a piston.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 417
Various
If steam is forced into the cylinder the piston will be forced to the opposite end of the cylinder.
Boys' Book of Model Boats
Raymond Francis Yates
The holes G which are bored around the cylinder are the exhaust ports.
Boys' Book of Model Boats
Raymond Francis Yates
This cylinder block is soldered to the piston as shown in Fig. 56.
Boys' Book of Model Boats
Raymond Francis Yates

British Dictionary definitions for cylinder

cylinder

noun

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 movesSee 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

verb

(tr) to provide (a system) with cylinders

Derived Formscylinder-like, adjective

Word Origin for cylinder

C16: from Latin cylindrus, from Greek kulindros a roller, from kulindein to roll

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

Word Origin and History for cylinder

1560s, from Middle French cylindre (14c.), from Latin cylindrus "roller, cylinder," from Greek kylindros "a cylinder, roller, roll," from kylindein "to roll," of unknown origin.

cylinder in Medicine

cylinder

[sĭl′ən-dər]

n.

The surface generated by a straight line intersecting and moving along a closed plane curve, the directrix, while remaining parallel to a fixed straight line that is not on or parallel to the plane of the directrix.

A solid bounded by two parallel planes and such a surface, especially such a surface having a circle as its directrix.

A cylindrical or rodlike renal cast.

A cylindrical lens.

A cylindrical metal container for gases stored under high pressure.

cylinder in Science

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.

Idioms and Phrases with cylinder

cylinder

see firing on all cylinders.