return stroke

American  

[ri-turn strohk] / rɪˈtɜrn ˌstroʊk /

noun

plural

return strokes

1. the movement of a machine part with a back-and-forth motion, such as a piston, the limb of a robot on an assembly line, etc., when it returns to its starting position.

2. Meteorology. the main discharge of electricity in a stroke of lightning, in which the current, after reaching the ground, travels back up to the cloud.

3. Sports. in racket sports, an act of hitting the ball or birdie back after receiving it.

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return stroke Scientific  

/ rĭ-tûrn′ /

1. See reverse lightning

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Example Sentences

The piston’s return stroke then expels the gas and the now-cooled heat-transfer liquid.

From Economist • May 7, 2015

Many lightning bolts emit some x-rays, particularly at the point that the return stroke sets off from the ground.

From The Guardian • May 25, 2013

The rockets trail copper wire, providing an artificial leader to produce a return stroke exactly where and when they want it.

From The Guardian • May 25, 2013

The weak discharge from the cloud, called a leader, sets up a path for the main burst of lightning, the return stroke, which goes in the opposite direction.

From The Guardian • May 25, 2013

If ignition occur too soon, the mixture will be exploded before the piston has reached the dead center on its return stroke.

From Gas-Engines and Producer-Gas Plants A Practice Treatise Setting Forth the Principles of Gas-Engines and Producer Design, the Selection and Installation of an Engine, Conditions of Perfect Operation, Producer-Gas Engines and Their Possibilities, the Care of Gas-Engines and Producer-Gas Plants, with a Chapter on Volatile Hydrocarbon and Oil Engines by Mathot, R. E.