interference fit

British

noun

engineering a match between the size and shape of two parts, such that force is required for assembly as one part is slightly larger than the other

"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.

Regarding the Sept. 13 article “Whistleblower’s claims on Russian interference fit pattern”:

From Washington Post

The wheel hubs are an "interference fit" inside the wheel bearings.

From BBC

But he suggested that the problem could have originated with metal wedges used by the manufacturer to align parts that had not fitted exactly when the aircraft was built Said he: "It may be that the existence of shims in the aft bulkhead created an interference fit that made the creation of the crack inevitable, no matter what procedure was used."

From Time Magazine Archive

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