How to Use piston in a Sentence

piston

noun
  • Soak the piston and any rings in solvent and scrub them clean.
    — Phil Bourjaily, Field & Stream, 27 Feb. 2023
  • Maybe a piston will come shooting through the hood.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 29 Apr. 2026
  • On a 2 stroke, the piston will travel two times to do the same thing.
    — Matthew Every, Field & Stream, 16 Aug. 2023
  • Every part has a roll, like pistons firing at the right time.
    — Nacey Watson Johnson, Billboard, 8 Mar. 2023
  • These users of piston engines say their planes are also put to good use.
    — NBC News, 22 Apr. 2021
  • The whole thing collapsed like a piston over the course of likely a few days.
    — Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 17 June 2024
  • Clean the area on the piston and caliper where the pad backing plate touches.
    — Mike Allen, Popular Mechanics, 2 Oct. 2017
  • Clean the area on the piston and caliper where the brake pad backing plate touches.
    — Mike Allen, Popular Mechanics, 1 Oct. 2020
  • That’s because those piston-like legs have taken him all over the world.
    — Bryce Millercolumnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Nov. 2022
  • These fit between the pad and the brake caliper's hydraulic piston.
    — Mike Allen, Popular Mechanics, 1 Oct. 2020
  • When the springs expand (wheels go down), the piston pushes out.
    — Ray Magliozzi, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 July 2023
  • Honda gave the bike an old-school drum rear brake and a single front disc with a twin-piston caliper.
    — Joe Michaud, sandiegouniontribune.com, 15 Sep. 2017
  • In piston planes, pilots were used to firing at a certain range.
    — David Kindy, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 July 2021
  • Stroke refers to the distance a piston travels in its cylinder.
    — Jo Craven McGinty, WSJ, 15 Dec. 2017
  • Maybe the pistons are very different.
    — Joel Feder, The Drive, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The rear is a single 240mm disc with a single piston caliper.
    — Joe Michaud, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Aug. 2019
  • When the springs compress (wheels get pushed up), the shock’s piston pushes inward.
    — Ray Magliozzi, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 July 2023
  • The rear uses a 220mm disc with a Nissin two-piston caliper.
    — Josh Max, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026
  • The pressure of a gas squeezed in a piston will rise inversely with the change in volume.
    — Sean Carroll, Discover Magazine, 1 Jan. 2012
  • Placing the thick rubber hose on the arms of the piston like a sleeve prevents the doors from opening.
    — Erik S. Hanley, Journal Sentinel, 4 Aug. 2022
  • The mechanic later showed me the piston and it was destroyed.
    — Ramona Sentinel, 21 July 2017
  • The lid opens with a smooth-motion piston system that allows for a slow close, and the lid is lockable.
    — Megan Boettcher, Better Homes & Gardens, 31 Jan. 2023
  • Starting its engine brings to life 16 pistons, each as big around as a dinner plate.
    — Kevin Spear, OrlandoSentinel.com, 30 May 2018
  • In the first round, the two boys jabbed with their elbows and fired their knees like pistons into the other’s stomach.
    — Shashank Bengalistaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2019
  • This movement compresses and expands an air chamber at the top of the buoy, like a piston.
    — New Atlas, 19 May 2026
  • The good news is, that a universal brake caliper piston tool kit can be bought for as little as $25.
    — Bradley Ford, Popular Mechanics, 21 Dec. 2022
  • In a heady three months starting in May, the piston plane shot down at least a dozen Russian drones.
    — David Axe, Forbes, 28 Nov. 2024
  • Then, on a single up the middle, his little pistons took him home for the first run of a 2-1 game.
    — Peter King, SI.com, 16 Oct. 2017
  • On many nights, that heart pumps like the pistons in a stock car, a source of energy for the Cubs to utilize.
    — Dan Wiederer, chicagotribune.com, 18 May 2018
  • When the fuel is ignited, the gas expands and pushes the pistons down.
    — Rhett Allain, WIRED, 7 July 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'piston.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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