the act or power of resisting, opposing, or withstanding.
the opposition offered by one thing, force, etc., to another.
Electricity.
Also called ohmic resistance. a property of a conductor by virtue of which the passage of current is opposed, causing electric energy to be transformed into heat: equal to the voltage across the conductor divided by the current flowing in the conductor: usually measured in ohms. R
a conductor or coil offering such opposition; resistor.
Psychiatry. opposition to an attempt to bring repressed thoughts or feelings into consciousness.
(often initial capital letter) an underground organization composed of groups of private individuals working as an opposition force in a conquered country to overthrow the occupying power, usually by acts of sabotage, guerrilla warfare, etc..
the resistance during the German occupation in World War II.
Stock Exchange. resistance level.
the act or an instance of resisting
the capacity to withstand something, esp the body's natural capacity to withstand disease
R. the opposition to a flow of electric current through a circuit component, medium, or substance. It is the magnitude of the real part of the impedance and is measured in ohms Compare reactance
( as modifier )
resistance coupling
a resistance thermometer
any force that tends to retard or oppose motion
air resistance
wind resistance
(in psychoanalytical theory) the tendency of a person to prevent the translation of repressed thoughts and ideas from the unconscious to the conscious and esp to resist the analyst's attempt to bring this about
physics the magnitude of the real part of the acoustic or mechanical impedance
the easiest, but not necessarily the best or most honourable, course of action
A force, such as friction, that operates opposite the direction of motion of a body and tends to prevent or slow down the body's motion.
A measure of the degree to which a substance impedes the flow of electric current induced by a voltage. Resistance is measured in ohms. Good conductors, such as copper, have low resistance. Good insulators, such as rubber, have high resistance. Resistance causes electrical energy to be dissipated as heat.
See also Ohm's law
The capacity of an organism, tissue, or cell to withstand the effects of a harmful physical or environmental agent, such as a microorganism or pollutant.
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French; equivalent to resist + -ance
If you've ever seen a dog on a leash suddenly refuse to walk any farther, you know how much resistance one little pet can put up. Resistance means "refusal to comply with or accept something." An individual person can put up resistance against something she disagrees with or doesn't want to participate in. On a larger scale, groups of people and even whole countries can display resistance, like when the British put up resistance against Napoleon. Another meaning of resistance is "the ability not to be affected by," like a resistance to getting colds, which you can imagine as your immune system putting up a fierce resistance against invading germs.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At this rainforest-like indoor farm, where creatures such as coral, tropical fish and sea cucumbers inhabit different aquariums, Kinjo bred "miracle coral" with extra resistance to warmer water.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
This resistance was most likely linked to severe fatty liver disease.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
Pockets of resistance, including Bergen County, N.J., continue to prohibit most retailers from selling anything other than necessities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Plans to simplify the classic logo and modernise store interiors sparked fierce resistance from loyal diners who argued the changes stripped away the brand's nostalgic Southern charm.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Faced with this ever-growing flood of squatters, two Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa, began building a larger, more cohesive Indigenous resistance.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Such a message would have particular importance for Hezbollah, Iraqi militias and other members of Iran's regional network known as the "Axis of Resistance".
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
“The Complete Notebooks” traces Camus’s development from a budding writer in colonial Algeria to a journalist of the French Resistance to a revered public intellectual.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
Resistance is at the 200-day moving average, near $397.
From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026
It was a fearsome constellation of paramilitary factions and amenable governments that became known as the Axis of Resistance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026
What happened with the Resistance that was so horrible she can’t speak of them without stuttering and convulsing?
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
The most powerful ones have to be used as rarely as possible, to give bacteria fewer opportunities to develop resistances.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2024
Though mosquito insecticides exist, the pests are developing resistances, and advancements are needed to reduce their numbers and slow the spread of pathogens they carry, including the malaria parasite and the Zika and dengue viruses.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 8, 2024
In the 1940's and '50's, when humans first began taking antibiotics, the resistances were already in the environment and worked their way into the bacteria that cause human infection.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 29, 2024
A lot of the voice was thinking about how the various ways in which, like, I think sometimes for me voice is about like, the resistances that we come up against.
From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2023
That something seemed to have rules and resistances of its own, ones that did not stem from me.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
