Library / English Dictionary

PISTON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Mechanical device that has a plunging or thrusting motion

Synonyms:

piston; plunger

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("piston" is a kind of...):

mechanical device (mechanism consisting of a device that works on mechanical principles)

Meronyms (parts of "piston"):

piston ring (seal consisting of a split metal ring that seals the gap between a piston and the cylinder wall)

piston rod (connecting rod that moves or is moved by a piston)

Holonyms ("piston" is a part of...):

reciprocating engine (an internal-combustion engine in which the crankshaft is turned by pistons moving up and down in cylinders)

Sense 2

Meaning:

United States neoclassical composer (1894-1976)

Synonyms:

Piston; Walter Piston

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

composer (someone who composes music as a profession)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The team thus hypothesized that the tight-fitting nucleus might be pulled forward like a piston by actomyosin contractions to pressurize the front of the cell and form lobopodia.

(New Mechanism of Cell Movement Revealed, NIH)