from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Displacement \Dis*place"ment\, n. [Cf. F. d['e]placement.]
1. The act of displacing, or the state of being displaced; a
putting out of place.
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Unnecessary displacement of funds. --A. Hamilton.
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The displacement of the sun by parallax. --Whewell.
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2. The quantity of anything, as water, displaced by a
floating body, as by a ship, the weight of the displaced
liquid being equal to that of the displacing body.
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3. (Chem.) The process of extracting soluble substances from
organic material and the like, whereby a quantity of
saturated solvent is displaced, or removed, for another
quantity of the solvent.
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{Piston displacement} (Mech.), the volume of the space swept
through, or weight of steam, water, etc., displaced, in a
given time, by the piston of a steam engine or pump.
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