displacement Hear it!

displacement definition

dis·place·ment (dis plāsmənt, dis-)

noun

  1. a displacing or being displaced
    1. the weight or volume of a fluid displaced by a floating object; specif., the weight of water, in long tons, displaced by a ship
    2. the volume displaced by a stroke of a piston
  2. the difference between a later position of a thing and its original position
  3. Geol. the relative movement of rock strata on the two sides of a fault
  4. Psychiatry a defense mechanism in which an emotion or idea, usually repressed, is transferred to another, more acceptable object

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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