When King Demetrius saw that . . . no resistance was
made against him, he sent away all his forces. --1.
Macc. xi. 38.
2. (Physics) 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.
3. A means or method of resisting; that which resists.
Unfold to us some warlike resistance. --Shak.
4. (Elec.) 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.
{Resistance box} (Elec.), a rheostat consisting of a box or
case containing a number of resistance coils of standard
values so arranged that they can be combined in various
ways to afford more or less resistance.
{Resistance coil} (Elec.), a coil of wire introduced into an
electric circuit to increase the resistance.
{Solid of least resistance} (Mech.), a solid of such a form
as to experience, in moving in a fluid, less resistance
than any other solid having the same base, height, and
volume.