Resistance
Resistance (-ans) , noun
[French résistance, Late Latin resistentia, from 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.
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.
4.
(Electricity) 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.
Collocations (3)
Resistance box (Electricity) , 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 (Electricity) , a coil of wire introduced into an electric circuit to increase the resistance.
Solid of least resistance (Mechanics) , 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.