word

meaning

abs

ee antilock braking
system.

absolute altimeter

An instrument which
employs radio, sonic, or
capacitive technology to
produce on its indicator the
measurement of distance
from the aircraft to the
terrain below. Also known
as terrain-clearance
indicator.

absolute blocking

A control arrange- ment

for rail traffic in which a
track is divided into
sections or blocks upon
which a train may not
enter until the
preceding train has left.

ABS See antilock braking system.

[ENG] An instrument which employs radio, sonic, or capacitive technology to produce on its indicator the measurement of
distance from the aircraft to the terrain below. Also known as terrain-clearance indicator.
absolute altimeter

absolute altitude

[ENG] Altitude above the ac- tual surface, either land or water, of a planet or natural satellite. { 1ab-so.lu' t 1al-to-tu' d }

[CIV ENG] A control arrange- ment for rail traffic in which a track is divided into sections or blocks upon which a train may not
enter until the preceding train has left.
absolute blocking

absolute block system

[CIV ENG] A block sys- tem in which only a single railroad train is per- mitted within a block section during a given period

of time.

[ENG ACOUS] The ratio of the power output of an electroacoustic trans- ducer, under specified conditions, to the power
output of an ideal electroacoustic transducer.
absolute efficiency

[THERMO] The true expan- sion of a liquid with temperature, as calculated when the expansion of the container in which the
volume of the liquid is measured is taken into account; in contrast with apparent expansion.
absolute expansion

instrument
[ENG] An instrument which measures a quantity (such as pressure or temperature) in absolute units by means of
simple physical measurements on the instru- ment.
absolute

used to measure the intensity of a magnetic field without reference to other magnetic instru- ments. { 1ab-so.lu' t mag-no1ta' m-o-dor }

ter whose calibration, which is the same for all ideal gases, can be calculated from the measur- able physical constants of the instrument.
2. A manometer that measures absolute pressure.

absolute pressure gage

[ENG] A device that measures the pressure exerted by a fluid relative to a perfect vacuum; used to measure pressures

very close to a perfect vacuum.

absolute pressure transducer

[ENG] A device that responds to absolute pressure as the input and provides a measurable output of a nature

different than but proportional to absolute pres- sure.

{ 1ab-so.lu' t 1presh-or tranz1du' -sor }

[MECH] The ratio of the weight of a given volume of a substance in a vacuum at a given temperature to the weight of
an equal volume of water in a vacuum at a given temperature. { 1ab-so.lu' t spo1sif-ok 1gravabsolute specific gravity

absolute stop

[CIV ENG] A railway signal which indicates that the train must make a full stop

and not proceed until there is a change in the signal.

Also known as stop and stay.

[THERMO] 1. The tem- perature measurable in theory on the thermody- namic temperature scale. 2. The temperature in
Celsius degrees relative to the absolute zero at -273.l6C (the Kelvin scale) or in Fahrenheit degrees relative to the absolute zero at
absolute temperature

-459.69F (the Rankine scale).

{ 1ab-so.lu' t

absolute temperature scale

[THERMO] A scale with which temperatures are measured relative to absolute zero. Also known as absolute scale.

{ 1ab-so.lu' t 1tem-pro-chu' r .ska l }

"

[ENG] The total volume of the particles in a granular material, including both permeable and impermeable voids but excluding spaces

absolute volume

between particles.

[ENG] Determination of the mass of a sample and expressing its value in units, fractions, and multiples of the mass of the
prototype of the international kilogram. { 1ababsolute weighing

so.lu' t 1wa" -i }
absolute zero

[THERMO] The temperature of

-273.l6C, or -459.69F, or O K, thought to be

the temperature at which molecular motion van- ishes and a body would have no heat energy.

absorber

[CHEM

ENG] Equipment in which a gas is absorbed by contact with a liquid.