Resistance /(-ans)/

Re·sist·ance

Resistance

n.
  1. The act of resisting; opposition, passive or active.
    When King Demetrius saw that . . . no resistance was made against him, he sent away all his forces.
    — 1. Macc. xi. 38.
  2. The quality of not yielding to force or external pressure; that power of a body which acts in opposition to the impulse or pressure of another, or which prevents the effect of another power; as, the resistance of the air to a body passing through it; the resistance of a target to projectiles. (Physics)
  3. A means or method of resisting; that which resists.
    Unfold to us some warlike resistance.
  4. A certain hindrance or opposition to the passage of an electrical current or discharge offered by conducting bodies. It bears an inverse relation to the conductivity, -- good conductors having a small resistance, while poor conductors or insulators have a very high resistance. The unit of resistance is the ohm. (Elec.)

Phrases & Compounds

Resistance box
a rheostat consisting of a box or case containing a number of resistance coils of standard values so arranged that they can be combined in various ways to afford more or less resistance.
Resistance coil
a coil of wire introduced into an electric circuit to increase the resistance.
Solid of least resistance
a solid of such a form as to experience, in moving in a fluid, less resistance than any other solid having the same base, height, and volume.