Dictionary

cylinder

Etymology

From Middle French chilindre, cylindre, from Latin cylindrus, from Ancient Greek κύλινδρος, from κυλίνδω "I roll or wallow" (intransitive).

Pronunciation

Noun

cylinder (plural cylinders)

(geometry) A surface created by projecting a closed two-dimensional curve along an axis intersecting the plane of the curve.
When the two-dimensional curve is a circle, the cylinder is called a circular cylinder. When the axis is perpendicular to the plane of the curve, the cylinder is called a right cylinder. In non-mathematical usage, both right and circular are usually implied.
(geometry) A solid figure bounded by a cylinder and two parallel planes intersecting the cylinder.
Any object in the form of a circular cylinder.
A cylindrical cavity or chamber in a mechanism, such as the counterpart to a piston found in a piston-driven engine.
(automotive) The space in which a piston travels inside a reciprocating engine or pump.
A container in the form of a cylinder with rounded ends for storing pressurized gas; a gas cylinder.
An early form of phonograph recording, made on a wax cylinder.
The part of a revolver that contains chambers for the cartridges.
(computing) The corresponding tracks on a vertical arrangement of disks in a disk drive considered as a unit of data capacity.