Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Percussion

Per·cus′sion, n. [L. percussio: cf. F. percussion. See Percuss.] 1. The act of percussing, or striking one body against another; forcible collision, esp. such as gives a sound or report. Sir I. Newton.

2. Hence: The effect of violent collision; vibratory shock; impression of sound on the ear.

The thunderlike percussion of thy sounds. Shak.

3. (Med.) The act of tapping or striking the surface of the body in order to learn the condition of the parts beneath by the sound emitted or the sensation imparted to the fingers. Percussion is said to be immediate if the blow is directly upon the body; if some interventing substance, as a pleximeter, is, used, it is called mediate.

Center of percussion. See under Center. — Percussion bullet, a bullet containing a substance which is exploded by percussion; an explosive bullet. — Percussion cap, a small copper cap or cup, containing fulminating powder, and used with a percussion lock to explode gunpowder. — Percussion fuze. See under Fuze. — Percussion lock, the lock of a gun that is fired by percussion upon fulminating powder. — Percussion match, a match which ignites by percussion. — Percussion powder, powder so composed as to ignite by slight percussion; fulminating powder. — Percussion sieve, Percussion table, a machine for sorting ores by agitation in running water.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.