piston: Meaning and Definition of

pis•ton

1. a disk or cylindrical part tightly fitting and moving within a cylinder, either to compress or move a fluid collected in the cylinder, as air or water, or to transform energy imparted by a fluid entering or expanding inside the cylinder, as compressed air, explosive gases, or steam, into a rectilinear motion usually transformed into rotary motion by means of a connecting rod.
2. a pumplike valve used to change the pitch in a cornet or the like.

Pis•ton

1. 1894–1976, U.S. composer.