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Webster 1913 Edition


Resistance

Re-sist′ance

(-ans)
,
Noun.
[F.
résistance
, LL.
resistentia
, fr.
resistens
,
-entis
, p. pr. See
Resist
.]
1.
The act of resisting; opposition, passive or active.
When King Demetrius saw that . . . no
resistance
was made against him, he sent away all his forces.
1. Macc. xi. 38.
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.
A means or method of resisting; that which resists.
Unfold to us some warlike
resistance
.
Shakespeare
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.

Webster 1828 Edition


Resistance

RESIST'ANCE

,
Noun.
1.
The act of resisting; opposition. Resistance is passive, as that of a fixed body which interrupts the passage of a moving body; or active, as in the exertion of force to stop, repel or defeat progress or designs.
2.
The quality of not yielding to force or external impression; 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 a ball which receives the force of another; the resistance of wood to a cutting instrument; the resistance of air to the motion of a cannon ball, or of water to the motion of a ship.

Definition 2024


resistance

resistance

See also: résistance

English

Alternative forms

Noun

resistance (countable and uncountable, plural resistances)

  1. The act of resisting, or the capacity to resist.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess:
      When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. []. The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in a series of eager little rushes like a timid dog on a choke chain.
    widespread resistance to the new urban development plans
    the resistance of bacteria to certain antibiotics
  2. (physics) A force that tends to oppose motion.
  3. (physics) Shortened form of electrical resistance.
  4. An underground organisation engaged in a struggle for liberation from forceful occupation; a resistance movement.

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