piston

¹ American  

[pis-tuhn] / ˈpɪs tən /

noun

1. a disk or cylindrical part tightly fitting and moving within a cylinder, either to compress or move a fluid collected in the cylinder, as air or water, or to transform energy imparted by a fluid entering or expanding inside the cylinder, as compressed air, explosive gases, or steam, into a rectilinear motion usually transformed into rotary motion by means of a connecting rod.

2. a pumplike valve used to change the pitch in a cornet or the like.

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Piston ² American  

[pis-tuhn] / ˈpɪs tən /

noun

1. Walter, 1894–1976, U.S. composer.

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piston British  

/ ˈpɪstən /

noun

1. a disc or cylindrical part that slides to and fro in a hollow cylinder. In an internal-combustion engine it is forced to move by the expanding gases in the cylinder head and is attached by a pivoted connecting rod to a crankshaft or flywheel, thus converting reciprocating motion into rotation

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piston Scientific  

/ pĭs′tən /

1. A solid cylinder or disk that fits snugly into a hollow cylinder and moves back and forth under the pressure of a fluid (typically a hot gas formed by combustion, as in many engines), or moves or compresses a fluid, as in a pump or compressor.

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Other Word Forms

• pistonlike adjective
• subpiston noun

Etymology

Origin of piston

First recorded in 1695–1705; from French, from Italian pistone “piston,” a learned alteration of pestone “large pestle,” equivalent to pest(are) “to pound” (variant of Medieval Latin pistare, derivative of Latin pīstus, past participle of pīnsere “to pound, crush”) + -one augmentative suffix

Explanation

A piston is a part of an engine that moves up and down inside a cylinder. Pistons help propel a vehicle by pushing fuel and air into a small space, where a spark plug can ignite and get things moving. A piston is a small but vital element in a complicated machine. Lawnmowers and motorcycles can have one piston or as many as 12. Most cars have four, six, or eight pistons. The exact way pistons work depends on the specific type of engine, but they're always essential. The word itself comes from the piston's repetitive movement — it shares a root meaning of "to pound" with pestle, the tool used for pounding and grinding spices.

Example Sentences

Many municipalities across the country have banned two-stroke leaf blowers—so named because a piston in a leaf blower engine makes two movements instead of four, as in a car.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 16, 2025

Young explains that they have fewer moving parts than traditional piston engines, making them easier to maintain, yet deliver surprising power for their relatively compact, lightweight size.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2025

"A lot of piston aircraft can't use leaded fuel in the future so they're looking for alternatives and ways we can decarbonise the lower end of aviation," he says.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2025

Many past attempts have featured metal rods inserted into lava, pushed by hand or by spring-loaded piston, or even fired into the lava like a spear, to estimate the viscosity of the flow.

From Science Daily • Jun. 4, 2024

It consisted of a single piston, powered by the pressure of the atmosphere.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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