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piston
piston.
1. A type of valve in brass instr., bored with passages which, when it is depressed within its casing, deflect the air-stream passing through it into the valve tubing. First valve lowers pitch a tone, 2nd a semitone, 3rd 3 semitones. If a 4th valve is added, it is adjusted to lower pitch 2 tones and a semitone, or a perfect 4th. New harmonic series can be prod. from these valves singly or in combination. 2. (Fr.). Abbreviation for cornet-à-pistons, the cornet. |
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Cite this article
MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "piston." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "piston." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-piston.html MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "piston." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-piston.html |
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piston
pis·ton
/ ˈpistn/
•
n.
a disk or short cylinder fitting closely within a tube in which it moves up and down against a liquid or gas, used in an internal combustion engine to derive motion, or in a pump to impart motion.
∎
a valve in a brass musical instrument in the form of a piston, depressed to alter the pitch of a note.
piston |
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Cite this article
"piston." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "piston." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-piston.html "piston." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-piston.html |
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piston
piston XVIII. — F. — It. pistone, var. of pestone pestle, rammer, augm. f. pest- in pestello PESTLE.
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Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "piston." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "piston." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-piston.html T. F. HOAD. "piston." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-piston.html |
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piston
piston •baton, batten, fatten, flatten, harmattan, Manhattan, Mountbatten, paten, patten, pattern, platen, Saturn, slattern
•Shackleton • Appleton
•Hampton, Northampton, Rockhampton, Southampton, Wolverhampton
•Canton, lantern, Scranton
•Langton, plankton
•Clapton
•Aston, pastern
•Gladstone
•Caxton, Paxton
•capstan • Ashton • phytoplankton
•Akhenaten, Akhetaten, Aten, Barton, carton, Dumbarton, hearten, Parton, smarten, spartan, tartan
•Grafton
•Carlton, Charlton
•Charleston • kindergarten
•Aldermaston
•Breton, jetton, Sowetan, threaten, Tibetan
•lectern
•Elton, melton, Skelton
•Denton, Fenton, Kenton, Lenten, Trenton
•Repton
•Avestan, Midwestern, northwestern, Preston, southwestern, western
•sexton
•Clayton, Deighton, Leighton, Paton, phaeton, Satan, straighten, straiten
•Paignton • Maidstone
•beaten, Beaton, Beeton, Cretan, Keaton, neaten, Nuneaton, overeaten, sweeten, uneaten, wheaten
•chieftain
•eastern, northeastern, southeastern
•browbeaten • weatherbeaten
•bitten, bittern, Britain, Briton, Britten, handwritten, hardbitten, kitten, Lytton, mitten, smitten, underwritten, witan, written
•Clifton
•Milton, Shilton, Stilton, Wilton
•Middleton • singleton • simpleton
•Clinton, Linton, Minton, Quinton, Winton
•cistern, Liston, piston, Wystan
•brimstone • Winston • Kingston
•Addington • Eddington
•Workington
•Arlington, Darlington
•skeleton
•Ellington, wellington
•exoskeleton
•cosmopolitan, megalopolitan, metropolitan, Neapolitan
•Burlington • Hamilton • badminton
•lamington • Germiston • Penistone
•Bonington • Orpington • Samaritan
•Carrington, Harrington
•sacristan • Festschriften
•Sherrington • typewritten
•Warrington • puritan • Fredericton
•Lexington • Occitan • Washington
•Whittington • Huntington
•Galveston • Livingstone
•Kensington
•Blyton, brighten, Brighton, Crichton, enlighten, frighten, heighten, lighten, righten, tighten, titan, triton, whiten
•begotten, cotton, forgotten, ill-gotten, misbegotten, rotten
•Compton, Crompton
•wanton • Longton
•Boston, postern
•boughten, chorten, foreshorten, Laughton, Morton, Naughton, Orton, quartan, quartern, shorten, tauten, torten, Wharton
•Alton, Dalton, Galton, saltern, Walton
•Taunton • Allston • Launceston
•croton, Dakotan, Minnesotan, oaten, verboten
•Bolton, Doulton, molten
•Folkestone • Royston
•Luton, newton, rambutan, Teuton
•Houston • Fulton
•button, glutton, Hutton, mutton
•sultan
•doubleton, subaltern
•fronton • Augustan • Dunstan
•tungsten • quieten • Pinkerton
•charlatan • Wollaston • Palmerston
•Edmonton • automaton • Sheraton
•Geraldton • Chatterton • Betterton
•Chesterton • Athelstan
•burton, curtain, uncertain
•Hurston
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Cite this article
"piston." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "piston." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-piston.html "piston." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-piston.html |
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