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Vis   /vɪs/   Listen
noun
Vis  n.  
1.
Force; power.
2.
(Law)
(a)
Physical force.
(b)
Moral power.
Principle of vis viva (Mech.), the principle that the difference between the aggregate work of the accelerating forces of a system and that of the retarding forces is equal to one half the vis viva accumulated or lost in the system while the work is being done.
Vis impressa (Mech.), force exerted, as in moving a body, or changing the direction of its motion; impressed force.
Vis inertiae.
(a)
The resistance of matter, as when a body at rest is set in motion, or a body in motion is brought to rest, or has its motion changed, either in direction or in velocity.
(b)
Inertness; inactivity. Note: Vis intertiae and inertia are not strictly synonymous. The former implies the resistance itself which is given, while the latter implies merely the property by which it is given.
Vis mortua (Mech.), dead force; force doing no active work, but only producing pressure.
Vis vitae, or Vis vitalis (Physiol.), vital force.
Vis viva (Mech.), living force; the force of a body moving against resistance, or doing work, in distinction from vis mortua, or dead force; the kinetic energy of a moving body; the capacity of a moving body to do work by reason of its being in motion. See Kinetic energy, in the Note under Energy. The term vis viva is not usually understood to include that part of the kinetic energy of the body which is due to the vibrations of its molecules.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Vis" Quotes from Famous Books



... quoque, tu in summis, o dimidiate Menander, poneris, et merito, puri sermonis amator. Lenibus atque utinam scriptis adiuncta foret vis, comica ut aequato virtus polleret honore cum Graecis, neve hac despectus parte iaceres. Unum hoc maceror ...
— The Student's Companion to Latin Authors • George Middleton

... Bell, De Barre, Jeb Browne, Pennycuik, and all them old-timers. Eyah! th' times that was! th' times that was! Force's all filled up now mostly with 'Smart Aleck' kids, like Reddy, here, an'"—he shot a glance of calculating invitation at his vis-a-vis, Hardy—"'old sweats' from the ...
— The Luck of the Mounted - A Tale of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police • Ralph S. Kendall

... and again sporadic outbreaks of them. The material which the first three centuries present is very great. Only a few may be mentioned here: Ignat. ad. Rom. VII. 2; ad. Philad. VII; ad Eph. XX. 1, etc.; 1 Clem. LXIII. 2; Martyr. Polyc.; Acta Perpet. et Felic; Tertull de animo XLVII.; "Major paene vis hominum e visionibus deum discunt." Orig. c. Celsum. i. 46: [Greek: polloi hosperei akontes proseleluthasi christianismo, pneumatos tinos trepsantos ... kai phantasiosantos autous hupar e onar] (even Arnobius was ostensibly ...
— History of Dogma, Volume 1 (of 7) • Adolph Harnack

... discharged slings, without knowing whom they hit: but the heavy-armed and the cavalry had a fearful experience, as they were close to each other and could even speak a little back and forth; at the same moment they would recognize their vis-a-vis and would wound him, would call to him and slaughter him, would remember their country and despoil the slain. These were the actions and the sufferings of the Romans and the rest from Italy who were joined with them in the campaign, wherever they happened upon each other. ...
— Dio's Rome • Cassius Dio

... occasion offered; and I took care to make friends with this person, who, being a college tutor and an Englishman, was ready to go on his knees to any one who resembled a man of fashion. Seeing me with my retinue of servants, my vis-a-vis and chariots, my valets, my hussar, and horses, dressed in gold, and velvet, and sables, saluting the greatest people in Europe as we met on the course, or at the Spas, Runt was dazzled by my advances, and was mine by a beckoning of the finger. I shall never forget the poor wretch's ...
— Barry Lyndon • William Makepeace Thackeray


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