expansion joint

noun

a joint between two parts of a structure, machine, etc., permitting expansion, as from heat, without structural damage.

Origin of expansion joint

First recorded in 1840–50

Words Nearby expansion joint

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use expansion joint in a sentence

There are installed on some jobs what is known as an expansion joint.
Elements of Plumbing | Samuel Dibble
The steam expansion joint was placed between two opposite curves in the pipe, and one end drew out when first under pressure.
Records of Steam Boiler Explosions | Edward Bindon Marten
With cast iron pipe this cannot be done, and no length of piping over 40 ft. should be without a proper expansion joint.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 | Various
The chief object in arranging them in this manner was to permit an expansion joint, 30 cm.
ASCE 1193: The Water-Works and Sewerage of Monterrey, N. L., Mexico | George Robert Graham Conway
We had to leave a place there at the side, an expansion joint, to take care of that.
Northern Nut Growers Association, Report of the Proceedings at the Fourth Annual Meeting | Various

British Dictionary definitions for expansion joint

expansion joint

noun

engineering a gap in steel or concrete to allow for thermal expansion

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

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