resistance

Definitions

1. 1.Macc. xi.
2. 2.2. (Physics) The quality of not yielding to force or external pressure; that power of a body which acts in opposition to the impulse or pressure of another, or which prevents the effect of another power; as, the resistance of the air to a body passing through it; the resistance of a target to projectiles.
3. 3.A means or method of resisting; that which resists. Unfold to us some warlike resistance. Shak.
4. 4.(Elec.) A certain hindrance or opposition to the passage of an electrical current or discharge offered by conducting bodies. It bears an inverse relation to the conductivity, -- good conductors having a small resistance, while poor conductors or insulators have a very high resistance. The unit of resistance is the ohm. Resistance box (Elec.), a rheostat consisting of a box or case containing a number of resistance coils of standard values so arranged that they can be combined in various ways to afford more or less resistance. -- Resistance coil (Elec.), a coil of wire introduced into an electric circuit to increase the resistance. -- Solid of least resistance (Mech.), a solid of such a form as to experience, in moving in a fluid, less resistance than any other solid having the same base, height, and volume.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "resistance" mean?
• What is another word for "resistance"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is resistance.

• What is a means or method of resisting; that which resists. Unfold to us some warlike resistance. Shak called?