Definition of "hydrostatics" [hy•dro•stat•ics]

• The branch of physics that deals with fluids at rest and under pressure. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "He made founding contributions to the fields of hydrostatics, static mechanics, and pycnometry (the measurement of the volume or density of an object)."
• "Over the course of the next decade, Descartes worked on large number of problems in both science and mathematics, with particular emphasis on the theory of light, mechanics (including hydrostatics), and the free-fall of terrestrial bodies."
• "˜Eureka™ said to have accompanied Archimedes 'discovery of a principle of hydrostatics is but an extreme example."