gasket
Americannoun
-
gaskets
plural
-
a rubber, metal, or rope ring, for packing a piston or placing around a joint to make it watertight.
-
Nautical. any of a number of light lines for securing a furled sail to a boom, gaff, or yard.
noun
-
a compressible packing piece of paper, rubber, asbestos, etc, sandwiched between the faces or flanges of a joint to provide a seal
-
nautical a piece of line used as a sail stop
-
slang to burst out in anger
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of gasket
1615–25; perhaps < French garcette a plait of rope
Explanation
A piece of rubber that's used to fill the bit of space between two parts of an engine is called a gasket. If your car has an oil leak, with any luck you'll just need to replace a gasket. The job of a gasket is to prevent leaks and form a seal between two surfaces, usually the parts of a machine or system. Plumbing requires gaskets to prevent water seeping between pipes and fittings, and your car relies on its head gasket, which sits between the cylinder head and engine block, to keep it running. Colloquially, to "blow a gasket" means to get furious or extremely upset.
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.
See Examples For:
Hearts blew a gasket in trying to get level; their intensity and desire to score was so palpable that you could reach out and touch it.
From BBC ● May 16, 2026
"If you remember, the reason the Challenger failed was a rubber gasket that got too cold," Simmons said.
From Science Daily ● May 13, 2026
Calm down, ChatGPT — if you blow a gasket, OpenAI is in real trouble.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
On the Alto K98M, that click-clackiness is muffled by a rubbery internal gasket surrounding the keys.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 23, 2025
“Manny, my mama would blow every gasket in a fifty-mile radius.”
From "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone
If I owned one of these cars I would immediately switch to a thicker engine oil that would be less likely to get past the seals, rings and gaskets over time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Fixing one used to mean installing new glass, rubber gaskets and adhesive.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 23, 2025
The kit will reportedly replace components like fuel lines, seals and gaskets.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2025
Other orders noted oil leaks or problems with head gaskets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2025
The suit had brown rubber gloves that were attached by gaskets at the cuffs.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
