Geometry. a surface or solid bounded by two parallel planes and generated by a straight line moving parallel to the given planes and tracing a curve bounded by the planes and lying in a plane perpendicular or oblique to the given planes.
any cylinderlike object or part, whether solid or hollow.
the rotating part of a revolver, containing the chambers for the cartridges.
(in a pump) a cylindrical chamber in which a piston slides to move or compress a fluid.
(in an engine) a cylindrical chamber in which the pressure of a gas or liquid moves a sliding piston.
(in certain printing presses)
a rotating cylinder that produces the impression and under which a flat form to be printed from passes.
either of two cylinders, one carrying a curved form or plate to be printed from, that rotate against each other in opposite directions.
(in certain locks) a cylindrical device for retaining the bolt until tumblers have been pushed out of its way.
(in a screw or cylindrical gear) an imaginary cylindrical form, concentric to the axis, defining the pitch or the inner or outer ends of the threads or teeth.
Computers. the tracks of a magnetic disk that are accessible from a single radial position of the access mechanism.
Textiles. the main roller on a carding machine, especially the roller covered with card clothing that works in combination with the worker and stripper rollers in carding fibers.
Archaeology. a cylindrical or somewhat barrel-shaped stone or clay object bearing a cuneiform inscription or a carved design, worn by the Babylonians, Assyrians, and kindred peoples as a seal and amulet.
verb (used with object)
to furnish with a cylinder or cylinders.
to subject to the action of a cylinder or cylinders.
Origin of cylinder
1560–70; <Latin cylindrus<Greek kýlindros roller, cylinder, akin to kylíndein to roll
Ice cores are cylinders removed from such ice, such as a glacier.
Analyze This: Perfumes from everyday products collect in distant ice|Carolyn Wilke|September 30, 2020|Science News For Students
Anderson filled a cylinder with uncooked rice grains and sealed it off, heating the container while rotating it and increasing the interior pressure.
The Rise and Fall of the Rice Cake, America’s One-Time Favorite Health Snack|Brenna Houck|September 17, 2020|Eater
A little over two years ago, a shipping container-sized cylinder bearing Microsoft’s name and logo was lowered onto the ocean floor off the northern coast of Scotland.
Microsoft Had a Crazy Idea to Put Servers Under Water—and It Totally Worked|Vanessa Bates Ramirez|September 17, 2020|Singularity Hub
Even if Milwaukee was guilty of treating the seeding games like a tune-up, Giannis’s game was still firing on all cylinders.
Who Made The Most Of The NBA Restart?|Neil Paine (neil.paine@fivethirtyeight.com)|August 19, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
In new lab experiments, physicists dropped a cylinder onto this goop.
Physicists foil classic oobleck science trick|Emily Conover|June 9, 2020|Science News For Students
When we step into that cylinder of dry air and certain doom, all we can think is what it will be like when it crashes.
The Malaysian Air Tragedy Reawakens a Primal Fear|Kelly Williams Brown|July 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That cylinder is in a chamber within the satellite, not unlike an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.
The Equivalence Principle and Testing Einstein With Spaceships and Atoms|Matthew R. Francis|June 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Agate was widely used to carve high-value objects like signets and cylinder seals in the ancient Near East.
Spain’s New ‘Holy Grail’: Jesus Couldn’t Afford That Kind of Bling|Candida Moss|April 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The point of having lots of businesses under one roof is that not every unit will fire on every cylinder in every quarter.
So Long, Washington Post|Daniel Gross|August 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He trades Pearl, 12, to a neighbor for some quilts, not quite a gallon of cylinder oil, and $7.
American Dreams: ‘Tobacco Road’ by Erskine Caldwell|Nathaniel Rich|April 30, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The cross-head is a small piece of aluminum bronze, running on round guides that also serve as cylinder braces.
Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight, Parts I and II|S. P. (Samuel Pierpont) Langley and Charles M. (Charles Matthews) Manly
Helplessly the boy spun the cylinder and snapped the hammer again and again, but to no purpose.
Twenty-Four Unusual Stories for Boys and Girls|Anna Cogswell Tyler
This transplanter consists of a cylinder of thin sheet steel.
The Hawaiian Islands|The Department of Foreign Affairs
The weight descending caused the cylinder to revolve, setting the train in motion.
Time Telling through the Ages|Harry Chase Brearley
Auxiliary air ports were provided in the cylinder walls so that the pistons overran them at the end of their stroke.
A History of Aeronautics|E. Charles Vivian
British Dictionary definitions for cylinder
cylinder
/ (ˈsɪlɪndə) /
noun
a solid consisting of two parallel planes bounded by identical closed curves, usually circles, that are interconnected at every point by a set of parallel lines, usually perpendicular to the planes. Volume base area × length
a surface formed by a line moving round a closed plane curve at a fixed angle to it
any object shaped like a cylinder
the chamber in a reciprocating internal-combustion engine, pump, or compressor within which the piston movesSee also cylinder block
the rotating mechanism of a revolver, situated behind the barrel and containing cartridge chambers
printingany of the rotating drums on a printing press
Also called: cylinder seala cylindrical seal of stone, clay, or precious stone decorated with linear designs, found in the Middle East and Balkans: dating from about 6000 bc
Also called: hot-water cylinderBritisha vertical cylindrical tank for storing hot water, esp an insulated one made of copper used in a domestic hot-water system
firing on all cylindersworking or performing at full capability
verb
(tr)to provide (a system) with cylinders
Derived forms of cylinder
cylinder-like, adjective
Word Origin for cylinder
C16: from Latin cylindrus, from Greek kulindros a roller, from kulindein to roll
The surface generated by a straight line intersecting and moving along a closed plane curve, the directrix, while remaining parallel to a fixed straight line that is not on or parallel to the plane of the directrix.
A solid bounded by two parallel planes and such a surface, especially such a surface having a circle as its directrix.
A cylindrical or rodlike renal cast.
A cylindrical lens.
A cylindrical metal container for gases stored under high pressure.
A three-dimensional surface or solid object bounded by a curved surface and two parallel circles of equal size at the ends. The curved surface is formed by all the line segments joining corresponding points of the two parallel circles.