Definitions for resistance
rɪˈzɪs tənsre·sis·tance

Princeton's WordNet(3.17 / 6 votes)Rate this definition:

1. resistance, oppositionnoun

   the action of opposing something that you disapprove or disagree with

   "he encountered a general feeling of resistance from many citizens"; "despite opposition from the newspapers he went ahead"

2. resistancenoun

   any mechanical force that tends to retard or oppose motion

3. electric resistance, electrical resistance, impedance, resistance, resistivity, ohmic resistancenoun

   a material's opposition to the flow of electric current; measured in ohms

4. resistancenoun

   the military action of resisting the enemy's advance

   "the enemy offered little resistance"

5. immunity, resistancenoun

   (medicine) the condition in which an organism can resist disease

6. resistancenoun

   the capacity of an organism to defend itself against harmful environmental agents

   "these trees are widely planted because of their resistance to salt and smog"

7. underground, resistancenoun

   a secret group organized to overthrow a government or occupation force

8. resistancenoun

   the degree of unresponsiveness of a disease-causing microorganism to antibiotics or other drugs (as in penicillin-resistant bacteria)

9. resistancenoun

   (psychiatry) an unwillingness to bring repressed feelings into conscious awareness

10. resistor, resistancenoun

    an electrical device that resists the flow of electrical current

11. resistancenoun

    group action in opposition to those in power

Wiktionary(4.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. resistancenoun

   The act of resisting, or the capacity to resist.

   Etymology: From résistance

2. resistancenoun

   A force that tends to oppose motion.

   Etymology: From résistance

3. resistancenoun

   Shortened form of electrical resistance.

   Etymology: From résistance

4. resistancenoun

   An underground organization engaged in a struggle for liberation from forceful occupation.

   Etymology: From résistance

5. resistancenoun

   The genitals.

   Etymology: From résistance

Webster Dictionary(2.67 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Resistancenoun

   the act of resisting; opposition, passive or active

   Etymology: [F. rsistance, LL. resistentia, fr. resistens, -entis, p. pr. See Resist.]

2. Resistancenoun

   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

   Etymology: [F. rsistance, LL. resistentia, fr. resistens, -entis, p. pr. See Resist.]

3. Resistancenoun

   a means or method of resisting; that which resists

   Etymology: [F. rsistance, LL. resistentia, fr. resistens, -entis, p. pr. See Resist.]

4. Resistancenoun

   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

   Etymology: [F. rsistance, LL. resistentia, fr. resistens, -entis, p. pr. See Resist.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Resistance

   Resistance is an album from Christian hardcore band, Alove for Enemies' on Facedown Records album. The album was produced and engineered by Dean Baltulonis.

The Standard Electrical Dictionary(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Resistance

   (a) The quality of an electric conductor, in virtue of which it opposes the passage of an electric current, causing the disappearance of electro-motive force if a current passes through it, and converting electric energy into heat energy in the passage of a current through it. If a current passes through a conductor of uniform resistance there is a uniform fall of potential all along its length. If of uneven resistance the fall in potential varies with the resistance. (See Potential, Fall of.) The fall of potential is thus expressed by Daniell. "In a conductor, say a wire, along which a current is steadily and uniformly passing, there is no internal accumulation of electricity, no density of internal distribution; there is, on the other hand, an unequally distributed charge of electricity on the surface of the wire, which results in a potential diminishing within the wire from one end of the wire to the other." Resistance varies inversely with the cross section of a cylindrical or prismatic conductor, in general with the average cross-section of any conductor, and in the same sense directly with its true or average or virtual length. It varies for different substances, and for different conditions as of temperature and pressure for the same substance. A rise of temperature in metals increases the resistance, in some bad conductors a rise of temperature decreases the resistance. Approximately, with the exception of iron and mercury, the resistance of a metallic conductor varies with the absolute temperature. This is very roughly approximate. Except for resistance energy would not be expended in maintaining a current through a circuit. The resistance of a conductor may be supposed to have its seat and cause in the jumps from molecule to molecule, which the current has to take in going through it. If so a current confined to a molecule would, if once started, persist because there would be no resistance in a molecule. Hence on this theory the Ampérian currents (see Magnetism, Ampere's Theory of) would require no energy for their maintenance and Ampére's theory would become a possible truth. When metals melt their resistance suddenly increases. Light rays falling on some substances, notably selenium, q. v., vary the resistance. Longitudinal stretching of a conductor decreases it, it increases with longitudinal compression, and increases in iron and diminishes in tin and zinc when a transverse stress tends to widen the conductor. (b) The term resistance is used to express any object or conductor used in circuit to develop resistance. [Transcriber's note: At room temperatures, the thermal motion of ions in the conductor's crystal lattice scatters the electrons of the current. Imperfections of the lattice contribute slightly. At low temperatures superconductivity (zero resistance) can occur because an energy gap between the electrons and the crystal lattice prevents any interaction. At the time of this book, none of this was known. "Jumps from molecule to molecule" is a good guess.]

Matched Categories

1. • Action
   • Bacteria
   • Capability
   • Condition
   • Electrical Device
   • Electrical Phenomenon
   • Group Action
   • Mechanical Phenomenon
   • Medicine
   • Military
   • Military Action
   • Psychiatry
   • Revolutionary Group
   • Unresponsiveness
   • Unwillingness

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'resistance' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2744

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'resistance' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3358

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'resistance' in Nouns Frequency: #1164

Anagrams for resistance »

1. ancestries

How to pronounce resistance?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say resistance in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of resistance in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of resistance in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of resistance in a Sentence

1. Gordana Biernat:

   Resistance to Change comes from your Ego.

2. Ronald Reagan:

   The freedom fighters of Nicaragua ... are the moral equal of our Founding Fathers and the brave men and women of the French Resistance.

3. John Ing:

   Gold made a dramatic move today, breaking out of the resistance levels and the stocks are reacting on the positive, we're seeing the ramifications of increased volatility in the market and the heightening geopolitical climate.

4. Adam Sarhan:

   It's normal for the market to pause before a major level of resistance like 2,134, move sideways for a few days, even a few weeks and then blast off again.

5. Abdalla Binrasali:

   The resistance was fierce and they were firing with everything they've got, mortars, rockets and rifles, they fear that if they lose more ground they will be defeated.

Images & Illustrations of resistance

Popularity rank by frequency of use