n, often cap P  :  a device that consists of a tube having a short right-angled bend which is placed vertically in a moving body of fluid with the mouth of the bent part directed upstream and that is used with a manometer to measure the velocity of fluid flow (as in a blood vessel)
 
Pitot, Henri (1695-1771), French hydraulic engineer. Pitot began his career in the chemical laboratory at the Academy of Sciences in Paris. During his two decades at the academy he published a number of papers addressing minor questions in astronomy, geometry, and mechanics, especially hydraulics. In 1735 he published a paper announcing his invention of the Pitot tube. This device permitted the determination of the local velocity of fluids directly, and it remains today one of the basic experimental tools of fluid dynamics.
 
 
 
Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.  © 1997-2004.