transitive verb.
To give and return mutually; to make return for; to give in return; to interchange; to alternate.
intransitive verb.
To move forward and backward alternately; to recur in vicissitude; to act interchangeably; to alternate.
intransitive verb.
a steam, air, or gas engine, etc., in which the piston moves back and forth; -- in distinction from a rotary engine, in which the piston travels continuously in one direction in a circular path.
intransitive verb.
motion alternately backward and forward, or up and down, as of a piston rod.