air lock

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air·lock

or air lock (âr′lŏk′)

1. An airtight chamber, usually located between two regions of unequal pressure, in which air pressure can be regulated.

2. A bubble or pocket of air or vapor, as in a pipe, that stops the normal flow of fluid through the conducting part.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

air′ lock`

1. an airtight chamber permitting passage to or from a space, as in a caisson, in which the air is kept under pressure.

2. an impedance in the functioning of a pump or a system of piping caused by the presence of an air bubble; vapor lock.

[1855–60]

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Noun

air lock - a chamber that provides access to space where air is under pressure

airlock

chamber - a natural or artificial enclosed space

Translations

bouchon de vapeur

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