See Also: water hammer(medicine)
water-hammer(dictionary)
water-hammer pulse(medicine)
hammer(encyclopedia)
Hammer(health)
Hammer(medicine)
Hammer toe(medicine)
hammer(2)(dictionary)
hammer(1)(dictionary)
Hammer, Mike(dictionary)

water-hammer (iou)



water-hammer noun. E19.
[from WATER noun + HAMMER noun.]
An evacuated tube partly filled with water which falls on the end with a noise like that of a hammer when the tube is reversed, used to illustrate the fact that in a vacuum liquids and solids fall at the same rate. E19.
The (sound of) concussion or reverberation in a water pipe when the flow is suddenly stopped, when there is an airlock, or when steam is admitted. L19.
Medicine. Used attrib. to designate a jerky pulse with a full expansion followed by a sudden collapse. L19.