PNEUMATIC

pneumatic

(adjective) of or relating to or using air (or a similar gas); “pneumatic drill”; “pneumatic tire”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

pneumatic (comparative more pneumatic, superlative most pneumatic)

Of, relating to, or resembling air or other gases

Of or relating to pneumatics

(zoology) Having cavities filled with air

Spiritual; of or relating to the pneuma

(of a woman) well-rounded; full-breasted; bouncy

Synonyms

• (resembling air): aereous, airy, gaseous; See also gaseous

• (relating to pneumatics)

• (powered by compressed air)

• (having cavities filled with air)

• (spiritual): pneumenous

• (of a woman): See voluptuous

Noun

pneumatic (plural pneumatics)

(dated) A vehicle, such as a bicycle, whose wheels are fitted with pneumatic tyres.

(gnosticism) In the gnostic theologian Valentinus' triadic grouping of man, the highest type; a person focused on spiritual reality (the other two being hylic and psychic).

Source: Wiktionary

Pneu*mat"ic, Pneu*mat"ic*al, a. Etym: [L. pneumaticus, Gr. fnehan: cf. F. pneumatique. Cf. Pneumonia.]

1. Consisting of, or resembling, air; having the properties of an elastic fluid; gaseous; opposed to dense or solid. The pneumatical substance being, in some bodies, the native spirit of the body. Bacon.

2. Of or pertaining to air, or to elastic fluids or their properties; pertaining to pneumatics; as, pneumatic experiments. "Pneumatical discoveries." Stewart.

3. Moved or worked by pressure or flow of air; as, a pneumatic instrument; a pneumatic engine.

4. (Biol.)

Definition: Fitted to contain air; Having cavities filled with air; as, pneumatic cells; pneumatic bones. Pneumatic action, or Pneumatic lever (Mus.), a contrivance for overcoming the resistance of the keys and other movable parts in an organ, by causing compressed air from the wind chest to move them.

– Pneumatic dispatch, a system of tubes, leading to various points, through which letters, packages, etc., are sent, by the flow and pressure of air.

– Pneumatic elevator, a hoisting machine worked by compressed air.

– Pneumatic pile, a tubular pile or cylinder of large diameter sunk by atmospheric pressure.

– Pneumatic pump, an air-exhausting or forcing pump.

– Pneumatic railway. See Atmospheric railway, under Atmospheric.

– Pneumatic syringe, a stout tube closed at one end, and provided with a piston, for showing that the heat produced by compressing a gas will ignite substances.

– Pneumatic trough, a trough, generally made of wood or sheet metal, having a perforated shelf, and used, when filled with water or mercury, for collecting gases in chemical operations.

– Pneumatic tube. See Pneumatic dispatch, above.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition