INDICATOR • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Indicator

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/ˈɪndəkˌeɪtər/ Listen

noun

Indicator n.

1.

One who, or that which, shows or points out; as, a fare indicator in a street car.

2.

(Mach.) A pressure gauge; a water gauge, as for a steam boiler; an apparatus or instrument for showing the working of a machine or moving part; as:

(a)

(Steam Engine) An instrument which draws a diagram showing the varying pressure in the cylinder of an engine or pump at every point of the stroke. It consists of a small cylinder communicating with the engine cylinder and fitted with a piston which the varying pressure drives upward more or less against the resistance of a spring. A lever imparts motion to a pencil which traces the diagram on a card wrapped around a vertical drum which is turned back and forth by a string connected with the piston rod of the engine. See Indicator card (below).

(b)

A telltale connected with a hoisting machine, to show, at the surface, the position of the cage in the shaft of a mine, etc.

3.

(Mech.) The part of an instrument by which an effect is indicated, as an index or pointer.

4.

(Zool.) Any bird of the genus Indicator and allied genera. See Honey guide, under Honey.

5.

(Chem.) That which indicates the condition of acidity, alkalinity, or the deficiency, excess, or sufficiency of a standard reagent, by causing an appearance, disappearance, or change of color, as in titration or volumetric analysis. Note: The common indicators are litmus, tropaeolin, phenol phthalein, potassic permanganate, etc.

Indicator card, the figure drawn by an engine indicator, by means of which the working of the engine can be investigated and its power calculated. The Illustration shows one form of indicator card, from a steam engine, together with scales by which the pressure of the steam above or below that of the atmosphere, corresponding to any position of the engine piston in its stroke, can be measured. Called also indicator diagram.

Indicator telegraph, a telegraph in which the signals are the deflections of a magnetic needle, as in the trans-Atlantic system.

See images of 'Indicator'

Etymology of 'Indicator'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Indicator" Quotes from Famous Books

... is fitted a small propeller. As the water comes in contact with the propeller the sinking motion causes it to revolve. As it revolves it screws down a detonator which comes in contact with the charge at ten, fifteen, twenty, or forty or more feet as designated by the hand of an indicator on the bomb. The hand of this indicator is, of course, set by the officer before the bomb is released either from a gun or from tracks ...

— Our Navy in the War • Lawrence Perry

... solution! is brought into reaction is called !titration!, and the point at which the reaction is exactly completed is called the !end-point!. The !indicator! should show the !end-point! of the !titration!. The volume of the standard solution used then furnishes the measure of the substance to be determined as truly as if that substance ...

— An Introductory Course of Quantitative Chemical Analysis - With Explanatory Notes • Henry P. Talbot

... the nine other millions, it would be found, on distributing this increase among the whole, that on an average six months had been added to the life of each individual. It is with the average length of life, the so-called indicator of average comfort, as with average learning: the level of knowledge does not cease to rise, which by no means alters the fact that there are today in France quite as many barbarians as in the days of Francois I. The charlatans ...

— The Philosophy of Misery • Joseph-Pierre Proudhon

... it's always short-circuited and sparked. He rated it at seventy-five and it's never registered but fifty at its best. He rated the small motor at fifty and it developed thirty—no more. The blue print calls for 1500 revolutions on the big pump and the speed indicator shows 900. Even if the motors were all right, the vibration from that bum foundation that he told you was 'good enough' would throw them out, ...

— The Man from the Bitter Roots • Caroline Lockhart

... better, for insurance examinations, to take the blood pressure of the left arm in right handed persons as a truer indicator of the general condition, the difference is generally not great. The right arm of right handed persons usually registers a full 5 mm. higher systolic pressure ...

— DISTURBANCES OF THE HEART • OLIVER T. OSBORNE, A.M., M.D.

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