VACUUM • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Vacuum

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/vˈækjum/ Listen

noun

Vacuum n. (pl. E. vacuums, L. vacua)

1.

(Physics) A space entirely devoid of matter (called also, by way of distinction, absolute vacuum); hence, in a more general sense, a space, as the interior of a closed vessel, which has been exhausted to a high or the highest degree by an air pump or other artificial means; as, water boils at a reduced temperature in a vacuum.

2.

The condition of rarefaction, or reduction of pressure below that of the atmosphere, in a vessel, as the condenser of a steam engine, which is nearly exhausted of air or steam, etc.; as, a vacuum of 26 inches of mercury, or 13 pounds per square inch.

Vacuum brake, a kind of continuous brake operated by exhausting the air from some appliance under each car, and so causing the pressure of the atmosphere to apply the brakes.

Vacuum pan (Technol.), a kind of large closed metallic retort used in sugar making for boiling down sirup. It is so connected with an exhausting apparatus that a partial vacuum is formed within. This allows the evaporation and concentration to take place at a lower atmospheric pressure and hence also at a lower temperature, which largely obviates the danger of burning the sugar, and shortens the process.

Vacuum pump. Same as Pulsometer, 1.

Vacuum tube (Phys.),

(a)

a glass tube provided with platinum electrodes and exhausted, for the passage of the electrical discharge; a Geissler tube.

(a)

any tube used in electronic devices, containing a vacuum and used to control the flow of electrons in a circuit, as a vacuum diode, triode, tetrode, or pentode.

Vacuum valve, a safety valve opening inward to admit air to a vessel in which the pressure is less than that of the atmosphere, in order to prevent collapse.

Torricellian vacuum. See under Torricellian.

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Etymology of 'Vacuum'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Vacuum" Quotes from Famous Books

... imitate the custom of the cupbearers to kings, and taste the liquor he presented, by the invitation of After you is manners, with which request he ordinarily complied by wetting his lips, first expressing the wish of Heres hoping, leaving it to the imagination of the hearers to fill the vacuum by whatever good each thought most desirable. During these movements the landlady was busily occupied with mixing the various compounds required by her customers, with her own hands, and occasionally exchanging greetings and inquiries concerning the conditions of their respective families, with ...

— The Pioneers • James Fenimore Cooper

... it seemed the most natural thing in the world, as explaining his transparency. He was neatly dressed in a sort of tunic of writing-paper, with a cocked hat of the same material, and he had under his arm a large book, with the words "HOLE-KEEPER'S VACUUM" printed on the cover. This curious-looking creature was standing before an extremely high wall, with his back to Davy, intently watching a large hole in the wall about a foot from the ground. There was nothing extraordinary about the appearance of the hole (except ...

— Davy and The Goblin - What Followed Reading 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' • Charles E. Carryl

... formerly have been criticised long ago; but a new book is the property, the prey of ephemeral criticism, which it darts triumphantly upon; there is a raw thin air of ignorance and uncertainty about it, not filled up by any recorded opinion; and curiosity, impertinence, and vanity rush eagerly into the vacuum. A new book is the fair field for petulance and coxcombry to gather laurels in—the butt set up for roving opinion to aim at. Can we wonder, then, that the circulating libraries are besieged by literary dowagers and their grand-daughters, when a new novel is ...

— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 267, August 4, 1827 • Various

... protector. For an instant they felt as if they were about to be drawn into the awful power of the rushing monster. Then it had passed, and a roar of silence followed, as if they were suddenly plunged into a vacuum. Gradually the noises of the world began again: the rumble of a trolley-car on the bridge; the "honk-honk" of an automobile; the cry of a newsboy. Slowly their breath and their senses ...

— The Mystery of Mary • Grace Livingston Hill

... the vaccine and put it between two plates of glass, to spread out. He separated them and put them in a vacuum drier. ...

— The Hate Disease • William Fitzgerald Jenkins

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