aneroid barometer

noun

1. a device for measuring atmospheric pressure, often specially calibrated for use as an altimeter, consisting of a box or chamber partially exhausted of air, having an elastic top and a pointer to indicate the degree of compression of the top caused by the external air.

aneroid barometer

noun

1. a device for measuring atmospheric pressure without the use of fluids. It consists of a partially evacuated metal chamber, the thin corrugated lid of which is displaced by variations in the external air pressure. This displacement is magnified by levers and made to operate a pointer

aneroid barometer

/ ăn′ə-roid′ /

1. A barometer consisting of a thin elastic disk covering a chamber that contains a partial vacuum. High atmospheric pressure pushes against the disk and causes it to bulge inward, while low pressure does not push as hard, allowing the disk to bulge outward. An aneroid barometer is smaller and more portable than a mercury barometer and, when used with a barograph, can record up to a week's worth of data. Aneroid barometers are used extensively in aviation as part of altimeters.

Word History and Origins

Origin of aneroid barometer¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

In front of me there’s a little aneroid barometer, a present from my son Tom, which also tells me the temperature and the humidity.

From The Guardian

Trekking to a mountain top, he used an aneroid barometer to help him calculate its height.

From BBC

They were made by Meyer most ingeniously of a lever balance taken from an aneroid barometer and connected with a three-cornered rule; the weights used were shot from their shot-gun ammunition.

From Project Gutenberg

It consists in an air chamber hermetically closed by a corrugated metal plate I, similar to that used in the aneroid barometers.

From Project Gutenberg

The altimeter, which is an aneroid barometer, outlines with fair accuracy the height above the ground at which a plane is flying.

From Project Gutenberg