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# piston

noun (a piston, pistons)

«piston» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A piston is a short solid cylinder that moves up and down or in and out inside a tube, pushed by pressure; it is a key part of engines and pumps. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piston/#m1)
2. (informal) «Like pistons» describes something moving fast up and down, like legs running. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piston/#m2)

### In the lessons

In science and D&T (design and technology) lessons, pistons show how pressure and force make movement: in car engines, burning fuel pushes pistons, which turn the wheels; in syringes and bike pumps, a piston pushes air or liquid. Children make simple hydraulic models with syringes.

### Examples

- The piston moves up and down inside the engine. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piston/#x1)
- A bike pump has a piston inside. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piston/#x2)
- Pistons turn the crankshaft in a car. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piston/#x3)
- We made a moving arm with syringes as pistons. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piston/#x4)
- Steam pushed the pistons of the old train. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piston/#x5)
- His legs went like pistons as he raced to the finish. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piston/#x6)
- A syringe is a simple piston and cylinder. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piston/#x7)
- The huge limbs moved as steadily as pistons, eight feet to each stride, and the wrinkled skin of the elbow points rustled. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piston/#x8)

### Note

Countable: pistons. Not to be confused with «pistol» (a gun). Pronounced «PISS-tun».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «piston» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/piston/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«piston» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/piston.html) on Mova free.