| 释义 |
▪ I. power, n.1|ˈpaʊə(r), paʊə(r)|
Forms: see below.
[ME. poër, poeir, pouer (puˈɛːr), a. AF. poër, poair, pouair = OF. poër, poeir (whence pooir, povoir, mod.F. pouvoir), n. use of vb. inf. poeir, pouoir, povoir, pouvoir:—earlier *podeir (podir in Strasb. Oaths 842) = Pr., Sp., Pg. poder, It. potere to be able:—late pop. L. potēre, which, by the 8th c. in vulgar speech, supplanted posse (pr. pple. potent-, perf. potui) to be able: see Diez. The v in Fr. povoir was developed by hiatus in pooir; the w in Eng. arose from change of o in poër to ou, ow. The spelling power has been the prevailing one from 14th c. Phonetic development (poˈɛːr, puˈɛːr, ˈpuːɛr, ˈpaʊə(r), in north. dial. ˈpuːər, puːr).]
A. Illustration of Forms.
(α) (3) 4 poer, poeir, (3) 4 pouwer, 4–5 pouwere, pouer, powere, 5 pouere, pouoir, poweer, -eir, pouar, 6 powar, -are, Sc. pover, (3) 4– power.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4523 Gret *poer of yrlonde Modred him wan al so. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 588 Poer ynow schal come to me.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7639 Hii adde..gret *poeir sone anhonde.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 127/724 Þe Erchebischop of Euerwyke fondede for-to bringe A-cord and loue bi is *pouwer bi-twene thomas and þe king.
Ibid. 34/30 A-ȝein mine godes *pouwere.
c1400Destr. Troy 10658 Fore to the fight with a fell *pouer. a1425Cursor M. 3966 (Gött.) He com egayn him wid gret pouer.
Ibid. 9780 (Trin.) For to haue *powere þere.
c1420Anturs of Arth. xiv, Haue petè on the pore, quyl thou hase *pouere.
1447–8Q. Marg. in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. Introd. 63 To haue licence and *pouoir to ley the furst stone.
c1470Golagros & Gaw. 412 With all thair strang *poweir.
1486in Exch. Rolls Scotl. X. 100 note, His factouris havand *pouar of hym.
1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 231 Traistand..he micht na *powar be..agane tha kingis thre. 1538Starkey England i. ii. 35 Conuenyent powar and strenghth.
1554–9in Songs & Ball. (1860) 11 Extort *poware, whiche ys no goodly facioun.
1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 624 Quhilk efter him..Come hame agane with *pover of the new.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 20/49 Þis holi Abbod..hadde gret *power With þe king Eadmund. 1390Gower Conf. III. 376 (Bodley MS. 902) And doth what lith in his power.
(β) 4–6 pore, 5–6 poure, 5–7 powre, 6 ? poore, poour, 6–7 pour, 7–8 pow'r, 9 Sc. and north. dial. poor |puːr|.
[1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2049 He nom wiþ him..gret *pore ynou.] 1461Marg. Paston in P. Lett. II. 62 Ye ar myche behold to the Meyir and to Gylberd,..for feythfully they owe yow good wyll to ther porys. c15111st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 33/2 They haue nat the pore to come out of that deserte.
c1440York Myst. xxi. 157 The dragons *poure..distroyed haue I. 1555Eden Decades 36 A poure of armed men.
c1440Generydes 15 A man of grete *powre. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. ii. vi. 4 That Powre which gaue me first my oath.
1529Wolsey in Four C. Eng. Lett. (1880) 11 As my *poore shall increase.
1575Laneham Let. (1871) 1 But also haue *poour..to go and too see things sight worthy.
1546Suppl. Commons in Four Supplic. (1871) 63 The *pours, whome God hathe ordeyned. 1638Pourfull [see powerful a. 2].
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 500 The Western Winds with vital *Pow'r Call forth the tender Grass, and budding Flower.
B. Signification.
I. As a quality or property.
1. a. Ability to do or effect something or anything, or to act upon a person or thing. (Cf. quot. 1690).
c1325Spec. Gy Warw. 215 And ȝaf to man fre power To chese,..Off god and yuel shed to make. 1382Wyclif John x. 18, I haue power for to putte it, and I haue power for to take it eftsoone. 1390Gower Conf. III. 2 Him is benome The pouer bothe of hond and fot. 1470–85Malory Arthur xv. ii. 657 It shalle not lye in your power..to perysshe me as moche as a threde. 1580Babington Exp. Lord's Prayer (1596) 200 That he would..keepe vs from apposings aboue our power to satisfie. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 2 By his power and wisdome he built a Temple. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. vii. §8 Power..is another of those simple Ideas which we receive from Sensation and Reflection. For observing in our selves, that we do and can think, and that we can, at pleasure, move several parts of our Bodies which were at rest; the effects also, that natural Bodies are able to produce in one another, occurring every moment to our Senses, we both these ways get the Idea of Power. Ibid. xxi. §2 Power..is twofold, viz. as able to make, or able to receive any change: The one may be called Active, and the other Passive Power. 1713Berkeley Hylas & Phil. i. Wks. 1871 I. 287 Is it not in your power to open your eyes? 1741–2Gray Agrippina 40 The power To judge of weights and measures. 1785Reid Let. Wks. I. 65/2 Power to produce an effect, supposes power not to produce it; otherwise it is not power but necessity. 1853Lynch Self-Improv. v. 113 Money is power—power for bread and power for tinsel. 1858Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Phil., Hydrost., etc. 46 Fishes have the power of changing their bulk by the voluntary distension of an air-vessel. 1861W. H. Russell in Morning Chron. 3 Aug., Ready to afford any information in their power.
b. With a and pl. A particular faculty of body or mind.
1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 352/1 In theyr bodye whiche is made of four complexions and in theyr Sowle in whiche ben thre poures. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 148 Memory, reason, & wyll. And these ben the thre powers of the soule. c1540Boorde The boke for to Lerne C iij b, Moderate slepe..doth anymat and comforte all the naturall, animall, and spyrytuall, powers of man. 1665Glanvill Scepsis Sci. xiii. 71 When we speak of Powers and Faculties of the Soul, we intend not to assert..their real distinction from it, or each other, but only a modal diversity. 1736Butler Anal. i. i. Wks. 1874 I. 28 Several things..affect all our living powers, and at length suspend the exercise of them. 1869Freeman Norm. Conq. III. xii. 81 The laureate of William taxes his powers to the uttermost to set forth the greatness of the prince.
c. Sometimes the plural does not imply different faculties, but power put forth in various directions or on various occasions.
a1586Sidney Ps. xx. v, I know that He heares mee, Yea, heares with powers and helps of helpfull hand. 1725Watts Logic i. vi. §9 We must consider it in its Powers and Capacities either to do or suffer. 1804Abernethy Surg. Obs. 55 The patient, whose vital powers had long been greatly exhausted, died. 1852R. Knox Gt. Artists & Gt. Anat. 174 His powers of attention, and his educability were admirable. 1878Browning La Saisiaz 199 Powers that fain Else would soar, condemned to grovel.
2. a. Ability to act or affect something strongly; physical or mental strength; might; vigour, energy; force of character; telling force, effect.
c1440Promp. Parv. 411/1 Power, or strengthe,..potestas, robur, fortitudo, nisus, vigor. 1486Bk. St. Albans d iij, The bellis that yowre hawke shall wheer, looke..that thay be not to heuy ouer hir power to weyr. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. iii. 209 The Bathes..Giving that naturall power, which, by the vig'rous sweate, Doth lend the lively springs their perdurable heate. 1668Shadwell Sullen Lovers i. i, He has great power in Corranto's and Jiggs. 1738Wesley Psalms ii. viii, Thou art declar'd my Son with Power. a1770Whitefield in J. R. Leifchild Cornwall Mines (1855) 300, I rode to St. Ives, and preached to many who gladly attended to hear the word. A great power seemed to accompany it. 1838–9F. A. Kemble Resid. in Georgia (1863) 27 Bring them by power of lungs. 1860Lowell Lett. (1894) I. 341 More power to your elbow! God bless you! 1893Chesney Lesters ii. xxi, Mounted on an obvious screw, but in good going condition, and with plenty of power.
b. Political or national strength.
1701Ballance of Power [see balance n. 13 c]. 1719W. Wood Surv. Trade 315 The excellence of our Constitution,..would invite great Numbers over to us, exceedingly add to our Power and Strength, and make us more a Balance to the Greatness of any Country in Europe. 1753Scots Mag. Jan. 28/1 Would there by any longer a balance of power in Europe? 1904Westm. Gaz. 12 May 2/1 It was calculation..based on balance-of-power considerations, which come into question now.
3. a. Of inanimate things: Active property; capacity of producing some effect; the active principle or virtue of a herb, etc. († also concr.).
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iii. 24 Within the infant rin'd of this weake flower, Poyson hath residence, and medicine power. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxiii. §10 Powers therefore, justly make a great part of our complex Ideas of Substances. He, that will examine his complex Idea of Gold, will find several of its Ideas, that make it up, to be only Powers, as the Power of being melted, but of keeping its weight in the Fire, of being dissolved in Aq. Regia. 1716M. Davies Athen. Brit. II. To Rdr. 10 Bathing the parts affected with the Powers of Amber, Sage and Rosemary. 1738Gray Propertius iii. 79 The Power of Herbs can other Harms remove. 1800Med. Jrnl. III. 346 We have ascertained the power of the absorbents to be so great, as to take up not only such animal secretions as hog's lard, &c., but even grosser substances. 1829Nat. Philos. I. Optics ii. 4 (U.Kn.S.) The number 1,336, which regulates the refraction of water, is called its..co-efficient of refraction, and sometimes its refractive power. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. ii. 241 The red rays of the spectrum possess a very high heating power. 1871Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 26 The power of heat to burn.
b. The sound expressed by a character or symbol; the meaning expressed by a word or phrase in a particular context: = force n.1 9.
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Force, In our language the s between two vowels has the Force or power of a z. 1824J. Johnson Typogr. II. xii. 470 There are twenty-six letters..the names, powers, and sounds of which are as follow. 1871Earle Philol. Eng. Tongue §242 In the familiar salutation, ‘How d'ye do?’ we have the same verb in two powers.
c. Mining. Thickness or depth (of a vein).
1839Ure Dict. Arts 316 The power of this vein is 8 feet.
4. a. Possession of control or command over others; dominion, rule; government, domination, sway, command; control, influence, authority. Often followed by † of, † on, over.
1297[see A. α]. a1300in Leg. Rood (1871) 28 Vorte Seint dauid þe kyng com, þat was of gret power. c1306Exec. Sir S. Fraser in Pol. Songs (Camden) 218 Muche wes the poer that him wes byreved in londe. a1330Roland & V. 178 Lorain & lombardye..Schal be in þi pouwer. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) iii. 10 We trowe wele þi powere es grete apon þi subgets. 1535Coverdale 2 Kings xiv. 5 Now whan he had gotten the power of the kyngdome, he smote his seruauntes which had smytten the kynge his father. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxxvi. 159 They haue foure patriarches.., which doe command and haue power of the orientall churches. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 55 Thy father was the Duke of Millaine and A Prince of power. 1615W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 12 Let your plot be wholly in your owne power. a1634Coke Inst. iv. (1648) 36 Of the power and jurisdiction of the Parliament, for making of laws in proceeding by Bill, it is so transcendent and absolute, as it cannot be confined either for causes or persons within any bounds. 1685Baxter Paraphr. N.T. Rom. xiii, An Usurper's Strength may be resisted; but Rightful Power or Authority may not. 1835J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1837) I. i. 7 Cut away by Supreme Power.
b. Authority given or committed; hence, sometimes, liberty or permission to act.
1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 3844 Crist gave to Peter playn powere. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) iii. 9 To wham Godd gaffe full powere for to bynd and to louse. c1440Promp. Parv. 410/1 Powere, of auctoryte, auctoritas, jurisdictio. 1570B. Googe Pop. Kingd. (1880) 6 Graunting powre and leaue. 1700T. Brown Amusem. Ser. & Com. 85, I left my self full power to drop my Indian Traveller as often as I saw convenient. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. I. ii. 85 The bishops, who had power to arrest laymen on suspicion of heresy,..had no power to imprison priests.
†c. The limits within which administrative power is exercised; = jurisdiction 3. Obs. rare.
c1350Usages Winchester in Eng. Gilds (1870) 355 By⁓þynne þe power of þe town. Ibid. 356 Þat hit be y-lad by⁓þinne þe power of þe towne to selle.
d. Personal or social ascendancy, influence.
1535Coverdale 1 Sam. xxv. 2 The man was of great power, and had thre thousande Shepe, and a thousande Goates. 1651Hobbes Leviath. i. viii. 35 Riches, Knowledge and Honour are but severall sorts of Power. 1750Gray Elegy ix, The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r. 1829Mill Hum. Mind (1869) II. xxi. 208 A man's power means the readiness of other men to obey him. 1874Green Short Hist. vii. §3. 366 The greatness of the Queen [Elizabeth] rests above all on her power over her people.
e. Political ascendancy or influence in the government of a country or state.
1833Alison Hist. Europe (1847) I. ii. §70. 165 Thus, power and influence was confined to a class. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 193 To employ the power which they possessed in the state for the purpose of making their king mighty and honoured. 1878Scribner's Mag. XV. 613/1 The governing party has always come into power by means of revolution. 1884L'pool Mercury 18 Feb. 5/2 Sinking individual opinion whenever it threatens to interfere with the tenure of power. a1908Mod. The party at present in power in France.
f. Used with preceding adj. or n. to designate a movement to enhance the status of the group specified or the beliefs and activities of such a group. See also black power, flower power, etc.
1970‘J. Melville’ New Kind of Killer ii. 32 I'm working to establish Parent Power right now. 1972Pride of Lions (Columbia Univ.) Apr. 2/2 What is important is that you come out, have gay pride and leave the dance with a sense of Gay power. 1972Guardian 17 May 12/1 Pupil power flexes its muscles in London today. The organisers have called on all London secondary school⁓children to join them in a one-day general strike. Ibid. 19 Sept. 12/3 Three different types of reformers: the pupil power movement: the egalitarians: and the orthodox educational reformers. 1974Howard Jrnl. XIV. 38 The growth of ‘pupil power’ and the increase in truancy. 1974N. Bagnall (title) Parent power. 1974Times 7 Dec. 5/4 (caption) Mr Narayan: his hope lies in village power. 1975Times 30 Dec. 8/8 The old form a powerful group—‘grey power’ to adopt Professor Wilensky's phrase.
5. a. Legal ability, capacity, or authority to act; esp. delegated authority; authorization, commission, faculty; spec. legal authority vested in a person or persons in a particular capacity.
1486[see A. α]. 1563–4Reg. Pr. Counc. Sc. I. 271 In the sycht of him, or of thame berand his power. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 370 He was demaunded how he could make anye entreatye of peace, hauing no power so to do? 1771Junius Lett. xlviii. (1820) 252 He was careful not to assume any of those powers which the Constitution had placed in other hands. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) IV. 168 Powers or authorities by which one person enabled another to do an act for him, were well known to the common law. 1859Bright Sp., India 1 Aug. (1876) 55 A Bill to extend and define the powers of the Governors. 1891Law Times XCII. 94/1 The borrowing powers of the company were nearly, if not quite, exhausted.
b. A document, or clause in a document, giving legal authority.
power of attorney (= letter of attorney), a document appointing a person or persons to act as the attorney or attorneys of the appointer. (See letter1 4 c, attorney2 2.)
1483Cath. Angl. 289/1 A Powere, apodixis. 1706Lond. Gaz. No. 4209/3 A Forged Power..for receiving the said Money. 1747Franklin Lett. Wks. 1887 II. 92 As he has your power of attorney,..I think to put your letter to Mr. Hughes into his hands. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xxxvii, A power of attorney will be all that is requisite. 1844Williams Real Prop. ii. iii. (1845) 232 If the power should require a deed only, a will will not do.
II. As a person, body, or thing.
6. a. One who or that which is possessed of or exercises power, influence, or government; an influential or governing person, body, or thing; in early use, one in authority, a ruler, governor. Cf. It. potestà, podestà.
1382Wyclif Rom. xiii. 1 Euery soule, or lyuynge man, be suget to hiȝer poweris. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxvii. (Percy Soc.) 127 O power so hye in dignitie! O prynce victorious and famous emperour! 1525in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. I. 308 The powares of Italye, withe the helpe off his Holynes, shold be able to kepe the Emperor owt off Italye. 1678Butler Hud. iii. ii. 713 No power of Heav'n or Hell Can pacify Phanatick Zeal. 1738Wesley Psalms iii. v, Thou hast quell'd the adverse Power. 1833Wordsw. Sonn., At Sea off Isle of Man, But element and orb on acts did wait Of Powers endued with visible form, instinct With will. 1874Mahaffy Soc. Life Greece xii. 282 This remarkable banker, who was evidently something of a power in Greece. 1888M. E. Braddon Fatal Three i. iii, Bell was a power in the house in Upper Parchment Street.
b. In late use, A state or nation regarded from the point of view of its international authority or influence.
1726(title) Acta Regia: or, An Account of the Treaties, Letters and Instruments Between the Monarchs of England and Foreign Powers..translated from the French of M. Rapin. 1790G. Chalmers (title) A Collection of Treaties between Great Britain and other Powers. 1847Mrs. A. Kerr tr. Ranke's Hist. Servia 448 It had been approved of by the Commissioners, whom she, as the Power in possession of the Sovereignty, had appointed. 1863Kinglake Crimea I. ii. 21 All States except the five great Powers are exempt from the duty of watching over the general safety. 1872Freeman Gen. Sketch xii. §17. 229 Spain..soon became the greatest power in Europe. 1901N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 182 That the United States had the capacity to be a Sea Power. Ibid. 183 There was no talk then of being a World Power.
c. the powers that be (after Rom. xiii. 1): the authorities concerned; the elements exercising social or political control. Also in sing.
1526Tindale Rom. xiii. 1 The powers that be are ordeyned off God. 1793W. B. Stevens Jrnl. 24 Feb. (1965) 70 The Selfishness and Timidities essential to his nature..make him cling to the Powers that be. 1814Scott Wav. I. xix. 281 The cautious Baillie justly observed, that..the tenantry and villagers might become riotous in expressing their joy, and give offence to the ‘powers that be’, a sort of persons for whom the Baillie always had unlimited respect. 1886Kipling Departm. Ditties (ed. 2) 5 Potiphar Gubbins, C.E., Is dear to the Powers that Be. 1909Westm. Gaz. 11 Jan. 12/4 Perhaps next year the powers that be may take a little more trouble to discover the talent that lies outside London. 1924Lawrence & Skinner Boy in Bush 15 He had to hear the end of a story against the powers-that-be. 1930Times 25 Mar. 23/7 One can only express the hope that the Power-that-be in Nanking will realize the desirability for proceeding slowly and gradually. 1956A. Wilson Anglo-Saxon Att. ii. ii. 331 Donald's audience was not so large as it had been for the first lectures, but even now there was a fair number..those who had hoped that they might trap Donald into some mistake and earn a reputation for standing no nonsense from the powers that be. 1976Equals Oct./Nov. 2/3, I feel that the powers-that-be have expected too much to happen too quickly.
7. A celestial or spiritual being having control or influence; a deity, a divinity. Chiefly in plural, originating in its application to the pagan divinities; often in asseveration or exclamation, as by (all) the powers! merciful powers!
In quot. 1526, perh. in more general sense.
1490Johannes de Irlandia Meroure of Wyssdome (1965) II. 49 He had overcummyn all their powaris of myrknes. [1526Tindale Rom. viii. 38 Nether deeth, nether lyfe, nether angell, nor rule, nether power [1577 Genev. powers; Gr. δυνάµεις, L. virtutes, Wycl. vertues], nether thynges present, nether thinges to come..shalbe able to departe vs from Goddes love. ]1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 292, I would she were in heauen, so she could Intreat some power to change this currish Iew. 1610― Temp. iii. iii. 73 For which foule deed, The Powres, delaying (not forgetting) haue Incens'd the Seas..Against your peace. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. v. 123 Such Honours as we pay to Pow'rs Divine, To Bacchus and to Ceres, shall be thine. ― Georg. iv. 783 And then adore the Woodland Pow'rs with Pray'r. 1725Pope Odyss. iii. 192 There land, and pay due victims to the pow'rs. 1742Gray Adversity, Daughter of Jove, relentless Power. 1786Burns To a Louse viii, O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us! 1803G. Colman John Bull i. i. 12 By the powers she's well enough. 1809Malkin Gil Blas ii. vii. ⁋19 No, no! by all the powers! 1835Hood Dead Robbery iii, I reckon, by the pow'rs! I've lost ten pound by your not being stiffer! 1862Thackeray Round. Papers, Notch in Axe, Merciful powers! I remember. 1891T. Hardy Tess (1892) 153 The decline of belief in a beneficent Power. 1974B. & R. Hill Spirit in Stone iii. 39 When his training period was over, he secretly painted his face in the way directed by his ‘power’ (i.e. spirit helper) and set out.
8. In mediæval angelology, The sixth order of angels in the celestial hierarchy; = potestate 2: see order n. 5.
[Cf.1388Wyclif Col. i. 16 Ether trones, ether dominaciouns, ether princehodes, ethir poweris [1382 potestates, L. potestates, Gr. ἐξουσίαι]. ]1667Milton P.L. v. 601 Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Vertues, Powers. a1711Ken Hymnotheo Poet. Wks. 1721 III. 200 Pow'rs for Centurions in God's Hosts renown'd. 1814Cary Dante, Paradise xxviii. 113 [Dominations, first; Virtues, second;] and powers the third. 1846Keble Lyra Innoc. (1873) 101 The Powers and Thrones above.
9. A body of armed men; a fighting force, a host, an army; = force n.1 4; in pl. = forces, i.e. distinct hosts (quot. 1568), or different kinds of troops composing an army. power of the county: = posse comitatus. Originally less concrete, without a or pl. Now rare or arch.
1297[see A. β]. a1300Cursor M. 3966 He com again wit his poer [v.rr. pouer, powere]. 1390Gower Conf. III. 14 He wente..To make a werre in Orient, And gret pouer with him he ladde. c1400Brut 32 Come Iulius Cesar..into þis lande, with a power of Romayns, and wolde haue hade þis lande þrouȝ strengþ. c1440Sir Gowther 513 My lord hath sembled a new powere. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. 414 As moche power of men of warre as they coude make. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 12 b, Delyuered from the deuyll and all his hoost or power. 1553Brende Q. Curtius R viij, Satibarzanes..was with a power of horsemen entered agayne emonges the Arians. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 652 They with both their powers were commyng towarde London. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iv. i. 42 Brutus and Cassius Are leuying Powers; We must straight make head. 1641Termes de la Ley 262 One of them entreth into the Church with great power of Lay men, and holdeth the other out with force and armes. 1653D. Osborne Lett. xxiii. (1888) 116 He comes with the power of the county to demand her..being Sheriff. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 6/2 The Albanians, who fought against Pompey with such a Power of Horse. 1805Scott Last Minstr. iv. xxiv, Two hundred of my master's powers. 1819Wordsw. Waggoner i. 213 His bones, and those of all his Power Slain here in a disastrous hour!
10. a. A large number, a multitude, a ‘host’ of persons (not a military force); b. A large number, quantity, or amount of things; an abundance, a great deal, ‘a lot’. Now dial. or colloq.
a.a1661Fuller Worthies (1662) i. 194 Imploying a power of poor people, in Polling.., Gutting, Splitting, Powdering and Drying them [Pilchards]. 1706–7Farquhar Beaux Strat. i. i, What other Company have you in Town? A power of fine ladies. 1801tr. Gabrielli's Myst. Husb. IV. 18 They had left a power of servants at their master's. 1803J. Porter Thaddeus xi, They say there is a power of them wandering about the world. 1905J. M. Synge Shadow of Glen 25 I'm thinking it's a power of men you're after knowing.
b.1671H. M. tr. Erasm. Colloq. 323 What sumptuous silken vestments were there... What a power of golden candlesticks. 1680Crowne Misery Civ. War i. i, They have a power o' money. 1716Addison Drummer i. i, This Spirit will bring a power of Custom to the George. 1770Gray Corr. w. N. Nicholls (1843) 113 It will do you a power of good one way or other. a1797M. Wollstonecraft Posth. Wks. (1798) III. vii. 17, I shall expect (as the country people say in England) that you will make a power of money to indemnify me for your absence. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop liii, It has done a power of work. 1871Mrs. H. Wood Dene Hollow iv, I've a power of things to do at home. 1899O. Seaman In Cap & Bells (1900) 40 He was an all-round man, a scholar: knew a power of botany. 1938B. L. Burman Blow for Landing 161 There's a power of music in an anvil. 1947Daily Mail 22 May 3/4 There's a power of difference between farming now and when I was a lad. 1958People 4 May 16/1 (Advt.), Hungry children do themselves a power of good when they polish off the sandwiches. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 400 Two days at Prescote have done me a power of good.
III. In technical uses.
11. a. † Geom. The square described on a given line (obs.) (? an error); Math. (in modern use), the product obtained by multiplying a number or quantity into itself a specified number of times, the number of times being indicated by an ordinal numeral.
The first power of a number or quantity is the number itself; the second power is the square, or product of the number multiplied into itself; the third power is the cube, or product of the square multiplied by the original number.
1570Billingsley Euclid ii. Introd. 60 The power of a line, is the square of the same line. 1674S. Jeake Arith. (1696) 297 Multiply alternately..the Numbers given by the Powers of these alternate Indices for the reduced Surdes. 1743Emerson Fluxions 25 If any Term be divided by the first Power of the variable Quantity; then the Fluxion of that Term must be found by itself thus. 1827Hutton Course Math. I. 80, 2 is the root, or 1st power of 2. 4 is the 2d power, or square of 2.
fig.1884tr. Lotze's Logic 191 Even in cases where calculation in the strict sense is impossible we are inclined to use the term ‘power’ when the meaning and importance of a conception is raised in some peculiar manner.
†b. in power (tr. ἐν δυνάµει, Euclid): a phrase used in relation to the squares of magnitudes that are compared, as distinguished from the magnitudes themselves; thus magnitudes are commensurable (or incommensurable) in power when their squares are commensurable (or incommensurable). So equal in power, of equal power: see quots. Obs.
1571Digges Pantom. iv. Def. vi. T j b, A lyne is sayde to be equall in power with two or moe lynes, when his square is equall to all their squares. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. i. (1701) 9/1 Pythagoras, Sacrificed a Hecatomb, having found out, that the hypothenuse of a right Angled Triangle, is of equal power to the two sides including the right angle. 1660Barrow Euclid x. Def. iii, Right lines are commensurable in power, when the same space does measure their squares. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 40 How to finde two Lines, which together shall be equal in Power to any Line given.
c. power of a point with regard to a circle: the square of the distance from that point to the point of contact of the tangent drawn from it; or (equivalently) the rectangle under the segments of any chord drawn from the point.
1885C. Leudesdorf Cremona's Proj. Geom. 58 If through a point O any chord be drawn to cut a circle in P and Q, the rectangle OP . OQ is called the power of the point with regard to the circle.
d. Math. A property of a set that is the same for any two sets whose elements can be placed in a one-to-one correspondence and that in the case of a finite set is equal to the number of elements it contains; = potency 5.
1903B. Russell Princ. Math. xliii. 364 Power is synonymous with cardinal number. Ibid., To prove that there are powers higher than the continuum. 1953A. A. Fraenkel Abstract Set Theory i. 79 The cardinal of the continuum, often called the power of the continuum. Ibid. iii. 306 Cantor and many of his successors..call cardinals in general by the neutral name of ‘powers’ (Mächtigkeiten). 1961L. F. Boron tr. Kuratowski's Introd. Set Theory & Topology v. 61 The set of all odd natural numbers has the same power as the set of all even natural numbers. Ibid., The open interval - π/2 ‹ x ‹ + π/2 has the same power as the set of all real numbers. 1968H. Sharp Mod. Fund. Math. vii. 240 The power of a finite set is simply the number of elements in the set.
12. Mech. An instrument by means of which energy may be applied to mechanical purposes. mechanical († mathematical, † mechanic) powers: the simple machines by means of which mechanical energy may be advantageously applied; now reckoned as six, viz. the lever, wheel and axle, pulley, wedge, inclined plane, and screw: cf. machine n. 5.
1671Phil. Trans. VI. 2286 The Five Mathematical Powers (as they are called) or noted Engines for the facilitation of Motion. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I. s.v., The Six Mechanical Faculties; the Ballance, the Leaver, the Wheel, the Pulley, the Wedge, and the Screw; which are usually stiled the Six Mechanick Powers. 1710Ibid. II, Powers Mechanick, of these there are five usually accounted, the Lever, the Balance, the Wedge or Inclined Plane, the Screw and the Pulley. 1827N. Arnott Physics I. 154 No mechanical power or machine generates force. 1828J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 290 There are seven mechanical powers, viz.—The Lever, the Wheel and Axle, the Pulley, the Inclined Plane, the Wedge, the Screw, and the Funicular Machine. 1839G. Bird Nat. Philos. 71 Inclined plane. The action of this mechanical power depends upon the simple principle [etc.].
13. Any form of energy or force available for application to work. spec.
a. Mechanical energy (as that of gravitation, running water, wind, steam, electricity), as distinguished from hand-labour; often viewed as a commodity saleable in definite quantities. In quot. 1728 = force n.1 11 a.
b. Force applied to produce motion or pressure; the acting force in a lever or other ‘mechanical power’, as opposed to the weight.
c. The mechanical advantage gained by the use of a machine.
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., Power in mechanics denotes a force, which being applied to a machine, tends to produce motion... If the power be a man, or a brute, it is called an animate power; if the air, water, fire, gravity, or elasticity, an inanimate power. 1728Pemberton Newton's Philos. 55 Caused..from the influence of the power of gravity united with the general laws of motion. 1808J. Duncan Art of Weaving 272 Plans..for the purpose of working the weaving loom by the application of power. 1808Rep. High Comm. on Cartwright's Petit. 7 The general adoption of the loom by mechanical power will operate to the prejudice of the present weavers. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 294 Three things are always to be considered..: a weight to be raised; the power by which it is to be raised; and the instrument or engine, by which that power acts upon the weight. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 65 The word power, as used in practical mechanics, signifies the exertion of strength, gravitation, impulse, or pressure, so as to produce motion. 1830Mechanic's Mag. XIV. 448, I wish to let out power, but do not know a good and certain way of measuring it. 1836Backwoods of Canada 89 There is great water-power, both as regards the river and the fine broad creek which..falls into the small lake below. 1889B'ham Daily Post 7 Jan. 2/3 Advt., [To let] good Shopping, with and without power.
d. Motive power or heat (as contrasted with light) obtained from an electricity supply. Usu. attrib.
1896R. Robb Electric Wiring v. 82 Wires that carry current for running motors, or for furnishing power in distinction from light, are commonly called ‘power-wires’. 1904W. R. Bowker Dynamo, Motor & Switchboard Circuits v. 96 (caption) Low-tension system for power and lighting. 1931Electrician 13 Nov. 654/1 Where it is desired to instal power plugs in premises already lighted electrically a minimum of two 15A positions is demanded. 1941E. Whitehorne Elect. Wiring Specifications vii. 98 (caption) Power wiring must serve specific loads and processes. 1958,1975[see power point, sense 18 below].
14. Capacity for exerting mechanical force, as measured by the rate at which it is exerted, or the work done by it (cf. horsepower); also applied to a measurable capacity for producing some other physical effect. Also applied concr. to an engine that produces power.
1806–[see horsepower]. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 294 In calculating the power of a machine, it is usually considered in a state of equilibrium; that is, in the state when the power which has to overcome the resistance, just balances it. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 67 The product of these two numbers 3970 will express the power of the water to produce mechanical effects. 1849Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 421 With such a battery power the sparks from the primary coil are brilliant in the extreme. 1869Bradshaw's Railway Manual XXI. 399 Indian Tramway..adapted according to local circumstances to cattle or locomotive power. 1881Metal World No. 19. 297 Power is the product of force and velocity; that is to say, a force multiplied by the velocity with which it is acting is the power in operation. 1882Minchin Unipl. Kinemat. 263 The term ‘power’..signifies time-rate of doing work, and it is already in practical use in the expression ‘horse power’, which stands for 33,000 foot-pounds per minute. 1953Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang (1954) §82a/1 Motor; engine—1. chugger, coffee grinder, mill, percolator, power, stove. 1962Amer. Speech XXXVII. 134 Power,..all the locomotives owned by a company. The expression is heard, ‘The company has lots of power.’ 1973Ibid. 1969 XLIV. 245 A light engine crew moves power from one location to another. Ibid. 259 Power, 1: Number and type of locomotives on a train. 2: Locomotives available at a given time.
15. Optics. The capacity of a lens (or combination of lenses) for magnifying the apparent size of an object; also ellipt., the lens itself.
1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., The Power of a Glass is used by some for the distance of the convexity from its solar focus. 1831Brewster Optics v. 49 The magnifying power, or the number of times that the apparent magnitude of the object is increased. 1854Pereira's Polarized Lt. (ed. 2) 53 The light is polarized by this plate, and being then refracted by two plano-convex glasses (termed the power), is afterwards received on a semi-transparent calico screen. c1865J. Wylde in Circ. Sc. I. 67/1 Another pair of lenses is generally placed between the ‘power’ (that is, the last lens in front of the arrangement) and the condensers. 1875Huxley & Martin Elem. Biol. (1877) 21 Having found an Amœba, examine with a higher power.
IV.
¶16. In N.T., 1 Cor. xi. 10, a verbal rendering of Gr. ἐξουσία, L. potestas: see quots.
1526Tindale 1 Cor. xi. 10 For this cause ought the woman to haue power in her heed, for the angels sake [Coverd. a power vpon hir heade, Great, Geneva, 1611, power on her h., Rheims povver vpon her head; Wyclif 1382 a veyle [1388 an hilyng] on hir heed; R.V. 1881 a sign of authority on [margin authority over] her head; Gr. ἐξουσίαν ἔχειν ἐπὶ τῆς κεϕαλῆς; Vulg. potestatem habere supra caput]. c1550Vertuous Scholehous B iv b, As Paule sayth, we go attyred and haue a power vpon our heades. And therefore must I nowe (for my louynge husband is dead) lette hange my power or vayle downewardes from my heade, hauynge no power or husbande that hath rule of me. 1625T. Godwin Moses & Aaron (1641) 236 For this cause (namely in signe of subjection) ought the woman to have power on her head, 1 Cor. 11. 10, where by power, the Apostle understandeth a veile.
V. Phrases and Combinations.
17. Phrases.
†a. after, at one's power, at all one's power: according to one's ability; to the utmost of one's ability, with all one's might. Obs.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 10861 Þer horses at þer power runnen. 1472Rental Bk. Cupar-Angus (1879) I. 165 The sade John sal kepe his land fra guld efter his powar. 1535Coverdale Tobit iv. 8 Be mercifull after y⊇ power. Yf thou hast moch, geue plenteously. 1627Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 35 Your's at all power in the Lord Jesus, S.R. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Fam. Ep. Wks. (1711) 138, I shall fortify and defend the true holy catholick and christian religion..at all my power.
†b. by (one's) power: according to one's ability. Obs.
c1290[see A. α]. 1340Ayenb. 170 Þe onlosti þet byeþ slacke to godes seruice, þet ne byeþ ne wel chald be poer, ne wel hot. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 76, I haue anuyȝed him ofte,..And peired him bi my pouwer.
c. in power: (a) in a position of authority; † (b) able, competent (to do something). Sc. † (c) in potentiality, in posse, as opposed to in exercise or action. † (d) Math.: see 11 b. (e) in one's power, within one's ability, under one's control: see 1, 4.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7895 To drawe to him þe heyemen, þat in poer were þo. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 886 The tane is in power to mak that presoun. 1656Stanley Hist. Philos. v. (1701) 184/2 That Intellect which is always in act,..is better than that Intellect which is in power. 1739Hume Hum. Nat. (1874) I. i. vii. 328 They are not really and in fact present to the mind, but only in power. a1908[see 4 e.]
†d. of power: able, capable, competent. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Melib. ⁋780 We be nat of power to maken hise amendes. 1486Hen. VII at York in Surtees Misc. (1888) 53 Othre thinhabitauntes, which may not..be of power to have rede gownes. 1544T. Phaer Regim. Lyfe (1553) I vij, If ye be of power, ye maye drinke a good draught of ypocras..after meate. 1634Milton Comus 155 Of power to cheat the eye with blear illusion.
e. † to one's power (obs.), to the best, uttermost, or extent of one's power: as far as one is able.
[a1300in Rolls of Parlt. I. 241 A leur poer e a leur esseint.] 1490Caxton Eneydos xiii. 48 She..cheryssheth and enterteyneth hym to her power. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. 138 The man they wolde haue defended to the best of their powers. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 686 King Reyner did also help his daughter to hys small power. 1631Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 137 Three things..I remember to haue kept to my power. 1715De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. v. (1841) I. 97 To the best of my power you shall do it no more.
† f. upon one's power: as well as one can. Obs. rare.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 479 Doyng ȝoure bisynes upon ȝoure connynge ande powere.
†g. within power, within range. Obs.
1548Patten Exped. Scotl. N iv b, Within pour of batrie.
†h. to do (make) one's power: to do one's best.
c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1855 And, for to write it wel, do thi poweer [rime clere]. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 13 He did his power to put it doun. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. clxxxii. 216 Shame haue he that dothe nat his power to distroy all. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 42 Christierne made all his power agaynste them.
i. power of life and death, power of pit and gallows, power of the keys, power of the sword: see life n. 1 c, pit n.1 7, key n.1 4, sword.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 229 b, The power of the keyes. 1609Skene Reg. Maj. i. 95 All Barons quha hes power of Pitt, and Gallous of thift. 1863H. Cox Instit. iii. viii. 719 note, The power of life and death, which by martial law belonged to the Lord High Admiral.
j. more power to (someone): good luck, may fortune favour (someone). Also more power to one's arm; see also elbow n. 4 g.
1842S. Lover Handy Andy ix. 89 ‘More power to you, Andy,’ said the Squire. 1881Carlyle Reminisc. II. 321 More power to him! 1932E. Glasgow Let. 12 Jan. (1958) 112, I read and enjoyed and admired the articles by Allen Tate. They are fine and true. More power to him. 1948‘J. Tey’ Franchise Affair xvi. 187 Hooray! More power to him! I begin to like the boy. 1973P. Moyes Curious Affair of Third Dog viii. 107 ‘I'm trying to find Griselda, you see.’ ‘In that case, more power to your arm.’
k. power behind the throne: one who exercises power behind the scenes while appearing to have no authority to do so.
[1770Pitt Speech 2 Mar. in London Museum Apr. 249 A long train of such practices has at length unwillingly convinced me, that there is something within the court [in Parl. Hist. (1813) XVI. 843 something behind the throne] greater than the King himself. ]1866A. H. Lincoln in W. H. Herndon Lincoln (1889) III. 513, I told him [sc. Lincoln] once of the assertion I had heard coming from the friends of Seward, that the latter was the power behind the throne; that he could rule him. 1875‘Mark Twain’ Old Times Mississippi in Atlantic Monthly June 728/1 A power behind the throne that was greater than the throne itself. It was the underwriters! 1905H. A. Vachell Hill ix. 198 It was his habit to consult his wife in emergencies. The chief cutter..said that Amelia was the power behind the throne. 1931W. Holtby Poor Caroline vii. 277 I'd been..generally working in the background, but then I liked to be the power behind the throne. 1973J. Wainwright Devil you Don't 8 She'd been blinded..at the possibility of controlling such a man. Of being the power behind such a throne. 1977Time 8 Aug. 43/2 Anderson..will become the real power behind the throne.
18. attrib. and Comb.
a. simple attrib., as power absorption, power company, power-distribution, power-generation, power group, power-holder, power hunger, power-impulse, power-instinct, power logic(s, power-loss, power-lust, power-mania, power-maniac, power-monger, power motive, power-possessor, power-producer, power-production, power relation, power-seeker, power-soul, power-stroke, power structure, power struggle, power-supply, power-transmission, power turret, power-urge, power vacuum, power-word, power-worship.
b. Operated, driven, or done by mechanical power, as power approach, power-bellows, power-blast, power cart, power craft, power-crane, power ditching, power drill, power-engine, power-forge, power-hammer, power hoist, power-lathe, power-machine, power-milker, power-mill, power mower, power-plant, power-press, power-pulley, power saw, power shovel, power-vehicle, power wringer.
c. Used in generating, distributing, or applying mechanical power, as power-dam, power lever, power-station, power works.
d. Objective, as power-carrying, power-craving, power-generating, power-giving, power-handling, power-holding, power-losing, power-loving, power-propelling, power-seeking, power-sharing, power-usurping (all may be used as adjs. or ns.); power-greedy, power-hungry, power-lusting, power-mad, power-thirsty adjs.e. Instrumental, as power-crazed, power-driven, power-elated, power-obsessed adjs.; power-feeding, power-riveting, power-weaving ns. and adjs.; power-driving, power-farming ns., power-arm vb.
f. Spec. Comb.: power amplifier, an amplifier designed to deliver an output of appreciable power into a load; power-assistance, (the equipment for) the application of power to assist manual operation; power-assisted a., employing some inanimate source of power to assist manual operation; applied esp. to brakes and steering in cars where power from the engine is so used; power bandwidth Electronics, the range of frequencies over which a device can deliver a certain power or a signal with distortion less than a certain value; power base, a source of authority or support; power block, (a) a group of allied states, or a great power with its allies and dependencies; (b) Naut., a power-driven pulley used to haul in a seine; power board, (a) a board or panel containing switches or meters for an electricity supply; (b) chiefly N.Z., the controlling authority for the supply of electricity in an area; an electricity board; power brake, a power-assisted brake (in a motor vehicle); power broker orig. and chiefly U.S., one who exerts influence or affects the distribution of political power by intrigue; hence power-brokering, power-broking vbl. ns.; power buzzer, an electrical vibrator used in the war of 1914–18 to generate telegraphic earth currents; power cable, a cable transmitting electrical power; power capstan, a capstan in which the power is increased by means of gearing; power car, a railway carriage incorporating an engine; power centre, a locus of political authority; a powerful person or institution; so power-centred a., concerned with the study, acquisition, or exercise of political authority; power cut, a temporary withdrawal or failure of the electricity supply; also fig.; power density Nuclear Physics, the power produced per unit volume of a reactor core; power dive, a dive made by an aircraft with its engine(s) providing thrust; also transf. and fig.; so power-dive v. intr.; power-egg, on an airship (rarely, an aeroplane), an ovate housing for an engine; power élite, a social or political group that exercises power; power-ender, -ending a.: see quot.; power factor Electr., (a) the ratio of the actual power delivery by an a.c. circuit (or a component in it) to the product of the r.m.s. values of current and voltage; (b) as a property of an insulating material: the power factor under specified conditions of a capacitor made with this material as dielectric; power failure, a failure of a power supply, esp. the electricity supply; power frequency Electr., a frequency in the range used for alternating currents supplying power (commonly 50 or 60 Hz); power game, a contest for authority or influence, esp. in politics; power-gas, coal-gas used for supplying power, not illumination; power law, a relationship between two quantities such that the magnitude of one is proportional to a fixed power of the magnitude of the other; power level, the amount of power being transmitted, produced, etc. (in some contexts measured relative to some reference level); power line, a conductor supplying electrical power, often spec. one supported by poles or pylons; power-load Electr., the amount of current delivered for use in driving machinery, as distinguished from that used for lighting; power-loader Mining, a machine which loads coal on to a conveyor belt at the coal face; hence power-loaded a.; cf. power loading vbl. n.; power-net, a knitted stretch fabric used in women's underwear; power oil, oil brought up from a well and used on the spot as a source of power; power-operated a., operated by power from an inanimate source; power pack, a unit for supplying power; spec. (a) one for converting an alternating current (from the mains) to a direct current at a different (usu. lower) voltage, and usu. comprising a transformer, rectifier, and capacitor, (b) (see quot. 1967); also fig.; power package, a self-contained source of power; power pile = power reactor below; power play, in sport, a concentration of players at a particular point; the style of play involving such concentrations; spec. in ice hockey, a group of players sent out against a depleted opposition; also transf.; power point, a point or socket (point n.1 A. 19 e) from which electrical machinery or heaters can be operated; also fig.; power pole, a pole used to support an overhead power line; power reactor, a nuclear reactor designed principally as a means of producing power; power response Electronics, the way the output power of a device depends on the signal frequency; spec. the power bandwidth; power seat, a power-assisted reclining seat; power series Math., a series of the form{ddd}+ a′2x-2 + a′1x-1 + a0 + a1x + a2x2 +{ddd}, where the as are independent of x; also, a generalization of this for more than one variable; power set Math., the set of all the subsets of a given set; power spectrum, the distribution of the energy of a wave-form among its different Fourier components; power steering, power-assisted steering (in a motor vehicle); power stroke, in a piston engine, a stroke during which the piston is moved by the expansion of the gases in the cylinder; power-system, a set of political beliefs or institutions founded or dependent upon coercion; power take-off (equipment for) the transmission of mechanical power from an engine, esp. that of a tractor or similar vehicle, to another piece of equipment; power tool, an electrically powered tool; power-to-weight (or power-weight) ratio, the ratio of the power an engine or motor can produce to its weight (or the weight of the vehicle, etc., containing it); power train Mech., the mechanism that transmits the drive from the engine of a vehicle to its axle; also, this together with the engine and axle; power transformer Electronics, a transformer designed to accept a relatively large power, esp. one connected to a mains supply or power line to provide power at a lower voltage to a circuit or device; power transistor Electronics, a transistor designed to deliver a relatively high power; power tube, Electronics = power valve below; power unit, a device supplying, or controlling the supply of, power; a power plant; power valve Electronics, a valve designed to deliver a relatively high power; power wire, a wire transmitting electrical power.
1901Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engin. XXX. 405 If the phase difference..had been but 3 ½° instead of 7°, the *power absorption would have been 1 H.P. and not 2 H.P.
1920Ibid. LVIII. 896/1 The grid of the *power amplifier is given a negative potential. 1923Radio Times 28 Sept. 36 (Advt.), Standard loud speaker..suitable for public purposes when used with a power amplifier. 1961G. A. Briggs A to Z in Audio 16 The final stage is the power amplifier designed to feed the loudspeaker with a few watts of audio power. 1970J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers ii. 51 The majority of power amplifiers have the push⁓pull output transistors driven direct from a pair of driver transistors.
1938Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLII. 416 We may conclude, therefore, that, for the average pilot, the *power approach (or the undershoot technique) is a feasible method of approaching and landing.
1856T. Aird Poet. Wks. 139 Let the National Will *Power-arm the State.
1959Times 1 Sept. 12/2 One of the technical improvements in cars that has taken place unobtrusively during the past four years has been the provision of *power-assistance for the brakes. 1970Commercial Motor 25 Sept. 65/1 The steering was light even though power-assistance is not fitted.
1928Punch 21 Mar. (verso front cover) (Advt.), The *power-assisted brakes give absolute control over the car under all conditions. 1950Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) i. 38 Power-assisted control, a flying control in which the force needed to move the surface is provided partly by electrical or hydraulic means and partly by the pilot's physical effort. 1959Observer 1 Mar. 21/5 The power-assisted steering is one of the best I have tried; it spins back swiftly after sharp corners..and does not transmit severe road shocks. 1975C. Nesbitt Little Love & Good Company xviii. 226 The size of the car I was learning in terrified me to begin with. It had power-assisted steering and I wasn't happy without gears.
1965Wireless World Sept. 457/2 *Power bandwidth is the curve of maximum output power (for the defined total distortion) versus frequency, plotted with logarithmic scales on both axes. 1977Gramophone May 1773/2 The power bandwidth of the overall system (which is of course determined by that of the power amplifier) I found to be a little more restricted at its upper end than in some modern amplifiers.
1959Cambr. Rev. 7 Feb. 311/2 This is clearly the altruistic formula for the egoistic *power-base position just discussed. 1969J. Mander Static Society i. 70 Mexico..became the prey of rival caudillos, each with his geographically inaccessible power-base. 1976Encounter June 79/2 Franco passed on without ever heeding the advice of his more intelligent supporters, who urged him to prepare his successor a power-base at the centre of the political spectrum.
1881C. A. Edwards Organs 65 The pneumatic action..by which the bulk of the pressure is taken from the key, by means of small *power-bellows.
1806Forsyth Beauties Scotl. III. 97 A *power-blast to excite the furnace fires.
1958Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Nov. 675/2 The frontispiece showing the geographical arrangement of world *power blocks. 1960M. Sharcott Place of Many Winds ii. 37 The power block has come into use so that the men no longer have to pull the net by hand.
1904Electr. Rev. (N.Y.) XLV. 444 The *power-board is a handsome marble panel equipped with Weston ammeter and voltmeter arranged for taking readings. [1918Statutes Dominion of N.Z. 38 For every electric-power district there shall be an Electric-power Board.] 1938R. Finlayson in D. M. Davin N.Z. Short Stories (1953) 242 The Power Board was brought to the pass at last of having to build a special concrete foundation for the poles. 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Aug. 183/1 In New Zealand in the present [electricity] shortages there is an increasing tendency among power boards to adopt rationing. 1973‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Starry Bird ii. 30 The power board is on the wall of the darkroom. 1977Daily Tel. 26 May 19/1 (heading) Power board fined over fitter's death.
1896G. Richmond tr. Lieckfeld's Gas Engines ii. 29 The simplest and oldest of the *power brakes is that shown in fig. 3, ‘The Prony Brake’. 1972D. E. Westlake Bank Shot ii. 16 Kelp..stomped on the brake. It was a power brake, and the car stopped on a dime.
1961T. H. White Making of President 1960 ii. 52 None of the young men..could win the confidence of the aging back⁓room *power brokers who wield such influence in the Democratic party. 1968W. Safire New Lang. Politics 349/1 During his mayoral campaign and often after he was elected, Republican John Lindsay spoke scornfully, and often despairingly, of the ‘power brokers’ (a phrase coined by Theodore White) who ran New York behind the scenes. 1972Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 12/5 He's not going to get the nomination in Miami without coming to some kind of arrangement with the power brokers. 1977Listener 21 Apr. 498/3 Chiang Ching..embarked on a series of intimate relationships with Yenan's power⁓brokers.
1975N.Y. Times 10 Apr. 29/1 He..argued that conventions were ‘undemocratic’ because they were subject to *power-brokering instead of the will of the people. 1977Guardian Weekly 6 Nov. 9/2 The last opportunity for him [sc. Tito] to preside over a gathering of all the political clans and employ his power-broking to ensure an orderly succession.
1922Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 489/1 The *power buzzer..was a powerful vibrator worked by the current from a 10-volt accumulator, and connected to inconspicuous earths of insulated wire which could..be buried 6 ft. deep... Detachments of troops isolated by the enemy could send out code signals which could be picked up by listening sets..at ranges up to 3000 yd. 1923R. Stanley Text-bk. Wireless Telegr. (rev. ed.) II. xvii. 339 With a power buzzer of the ‘Parleur’ type on a 10-volt battery and a 100-yards earth base between the plates, in a fairly dry type of soil over chalk, good signals have been obtained over a range of 5 kilometres, the receiver being a 3-valve L.F. Amplifier connected to two earth plates 200 yards apart.
1905Henry & Hora Mod. Electr. xi. 219 Tough paper forms an excellent insulating material for electric light and *power cables. 1959E. H. Clements High Tension xi. 182 One of Douglas's tall poles bearing the power-cable across the open forest. 1974E. Ambler Dr. Frigo iii. 241 The body was discovered..by workmen laying a power cable.
1936Discovery Nov. 356/1 The Union Pacific RR. has two twelve-car diesel-electric trains, of which the first two coaches are the *power cars, each containing a 1,200 b.h.p. engine. 1977Mod. Railways Dec. 492/1 Despite the apparently convincing case put forward for the positioning of the power car in the centre of the APT-P sets..it is reported that options are still open regarding the formation of any subsequent production trains.
1946Nature 5 Oct. 463/1 The 11,000 volt systems are in turn supplied by 33,000 volt or 66,000 volt systems, with proportionally higher *power-carrying capacities.
1971*Power cart [see green(s) fee s.v. green n. 17].
1961Sunday Express 19 Nov. 16 By one cunning dodge after another he has kept this one-time *power centre of German militarism intact. 1962M. McLuhan Gutenberg Galaxy 12 The Renaissance prince tended to become an exclusive power centre surrounded by his individual subjects. 1977F. Young in J. Hick Myth of God Incarnate ii. 28 Cyril's attack on Nestorius is related to the political struggle between the ecclesiastical power-centres of Alexandria and Constantinople.
1960Encounter Oct. 4/4 A party which deals with the real problems of real men and women will become immoral, *power-centred.
1924Times Trade & Engin. Suppl. 29 Nov. 239/1 With such an unusually large consumption of current,..the electric light, heat, and *power companies can afford to sell power at a low cost. 1951M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 136/2 This is a good record for the thousands of people who work in power companies. 1961Bigelow & Otis Manchester, Vermont xii. 113 Manchester..had two competing power companies until 1904. 1977J. Cleary Vortex i. 21 Get the power company out here... Shut off that power.
1936Discovery Nov. 361/2 Part III is solely taken up by *power craft. 1954Fisher & Lockley Sea-Birds v. 126 The oceanic sea-birds have solved these problems of mobility by becoming sailplanes as well as power-craft.
1844Stephens Bk. Farm II. 211 A *power-crane.
1924P. Radin tr. Adler's Pract. & Theory Individual Psychol. xix. 231 This, reduced to her line of *power-craving, meant—‘I must dominate everyone, draw everybody's attention to myself.’
1914G. Frankau Et Debellare Superbos in Poetical Wks. (1923) I. 185 We grasped this sword for gain's sake, caste, nor king *Power-crazed to his own people's ruining.
1952M. Allingham Tiger in Smoke iv. 74 Teleprinters, radar..when we get a *power cut the whole blessed police system is liable to go out of action. 1973J. Wainwright Touch of Malice 97 It was a good clock—electric—and, apart from power cuts, it kept perfect time.
1903Daily Chron. 9 Mar. 5/6 A great *power⁓dam belonging to the Hudson River Power Company.
1953W. E. Unbehaun Hist. & Status Exper. Breeder Reactor (U.S. Atomic Energy Comm. AECD-3712) 40 *Power density, a measure of the power per unit of reactor core volume. 1955Proc. Internat. Conf. Peaceful Uses Atomic Energy (United Nations) III. 238/2 The power density is highest in the seed with a value of better than 200 watts/cm3. 1967Technology Week 23 Jan. 28/1 The Phoebus 1 B reactor..uses a new hydrogen pump developed by North American's Rocketdyne Div. that can handle 150 lbs. of hydrogen per second for studies of operations in the higher power-density range.
1942Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 95 The value of *power ditching is so great that the pilot should always ditch before fuel is quite exhausted.
1930R. Duncan Stunt Flying vi. 55 In a *power dive, terrific drag is exerted on the main planes with a downward pressure on the tailplane. 1937Times 14 Dec. 17/2 During these evolutions they [sc. Japanese bombers] ‘power-dived’ to within a very short distance above the Panay's decks. 1941Steinbeck & Ricketts Sea of Cortez 163 The mosquitoes..whooped and screamed and attacked, power-diving and wheeling up and diving again. 1954Ann. Reg. 1953 373 Aeroplanes flew at increasing speeds, reaching the threshold of the speed of sound in level flight and much higher speeds in power dives from high altitudes. 1973J. Wainwright High-Class Kill 24 Young Shaw had chucked himself over the guard-rail and power-dived into eternity.
1961Motor Cycle 16 Mar. 334/1 Nowhere is a *power drill more useful than in the garage. 197736 Home Handyman Projects (Austral. Home Jrnl.) 75/2 An economical way to buy a power drill and attachments is as a set by Black and Decker.
1835Ure Philos. Manuf. 334 The *power-driven machines of a factory. 1898A. G. Elliott H. de Graffigny's Gas & Petroleum Engines iv. 73 This motor..has become especially famous for its application to power⁓driven road vehicles. 1935Discovery No. 326/2 A new power-driven spray painting outfit which can be carried by hand and can be run from an ordinary lighting socket has recently been produced. 1967Karch & Buber Offset Processes i. 4 Early Power-Driven Presses. In 1814, R. Hoe and Company built the first steam-operated press to be used for printing. 1978J. A. Michener Chesapeake 693 Four of their power-driven boats lay off the point of Tilghman Island.
1907Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. LXVIII. 130 Seed dresser, for hand or *power driving.
1916Aeroplane 1 Nov. 802/1 There is quite a long distance separating these gondolas—or ‘*power-eggs’, as the Naval Air Service calls them—from the forward car. 1931Flight 16 Jan. 49/1 The revolution counters and oil-thermometers for the outboard engines are mounted on their respective power-eggs, clearly visible for the pilots. 1961F. K. Mason Hawker Aircraft since 1920 292 The two Griffon prototypes..were to be..replaced by Griffon 61 ‘power eggs’ at a later date, so becoming the Tempest IV.
a1743Savage Poet's Dependance 56 See..Meekness depress'd, and *power-elated pride.
1953C. W. Mills Veblen's Theory Leisure Class p. xiv, The major change in national glamour, in which the debutante is replaced by the movie star, and the local society lady by the military and political and economic managers—the *power elite. 1956― (title) The power elite. 1960News Chron. 16 June 6/3 Behind the council lies the real power elite: The Federation of Economic Organisations. 1973Black Panther 17 Mar. 7/2 The genocide, oppression, humiliation and repression this country's racist power elite has inflicted upon Native Americans, Black Americans also know.
1893Cayley Coll. Math. Papers XIII. 267 The power-ending terms or *power-enders, bc2, b5, which end in a power.
1826Scott Jrnl. 23 Nov., The people..in great discontent on account of the *power engines.
1892J. A. Fleming in Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engin. XXI. 606 The ninth column gives a number which it is convenient to call the *power-factor of the transformer at no load—it is the ratio of the true to the apparent watts. If the currents and pressures were simple sine functions, then the power-factor in that case would be the cosine of the angle of lag of primary current behind the primary terminal potential difference. 1912Ibid. XLIX. 323 The power factor and conductance of dielectrics under alternating electromotive force of low voltage. 1930Engineering 24 Jan. 97/2 It [sc. a generator] is rated at 30,000 kv.-a., at 80 per cent. power factor, generating at 13,900 volts, three-phase and 60-cycles, and running at 200 r.p.m. 1950Ibid. 28 July 80/2 Power-factor measurements up to 250 kV root-mean-square can be made with a Schering bridge. 1967M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World iv. 133 If [sc. zircon porcelain] has not only a low power factor, but also good electrical properties in general.
1933Newnes Mod. Motor Repair 684/2 When *power failure at high revs. occurs, get someone to speed up the engine and listen at the tail pipe. 1961Providence (Rhode Island) Jrnl. 29 Nov. 22 The impact with the utility pole caused a brief power failure in the immediate area of the accident. 1967‘T. Wells’ Dead by Light of Moon (1968) i. 8 Hey! The whole street is dark... Must be a power failure. 1974M. Babson Stalking Lamb xvii. 124 ‘Perhaps there is a power failure.’ In the darkness, Sybilla sounded older.
1952J. W. Day New Yeomen of Eng. xvi. 185 Substituting cheap modern *power-farming for expensive hand and animal labour. 1971Power Farming Mar. 7/1 It is just 50 years since one of the most significant innovations in the world of power farming first saw the light of day.
1873J. Richards Wood-working Factories 143 This distinction..between a *power-feeding and a hand-feeding machine.
1831J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 89 The blocks..are prepared at the *power forges.
1950Engineering 28 July 80/2 Equipment which will provide impulse voltages up to 1,400 kV peak, *power-frequency voltages up to 250 kV root-mean-square, and direct current voltages up to 200 kV. 1967M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World iv. 130 Although excellent for insulation at power frequencies, porcelain is far from being the ideal insulating material where high frequencies..are involved.
1958Spectator 1 Aug. 175/3 The landowners..the officials..and the womanisers..are all playing an elaborate and stylised *power game under the eyes of their neighbours. 1970[see Expo]. 1975Guardian 20 Jan. 8/5 Britain's puny role in the East–West power game.
1901Nature 10 Jan. 257/2 On *power-gas and large gas⁓engines for central stations.
1956H. Seligman in A. Pryce-Jones New Outl. Mod. Knowl. 159 The future will bring stream-lined *power-generating units of the type described.
1945W. S. Churchill Victory 26, I repulse those calumnies..that Britain..is a selfish, *power-greedy..nation.
1941Wyndham Lewis Let. 31 May (1963) 290, I mean that of the big *power-groups..we are the inhabitants or controllers of the great ocean wastes. 1977Listener 17 Feb. 223/2 Directors should be appointed for their competence, not because of the power group they represent.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Power-hammer, a hammer in which the weight is raised by power of machinery. 1879Engineer XLVIII. 412 It professes to be a power hammer applicable, not to one class of work, but to all purposes.
1936Discovery July 222/2 It is merely a question of the *power-handling capacity of amplifier and loud-speaker. 1962Simpson & Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors viii. 174 The mesa transistor should also be competitive as far as power-handling capability and ease of fabrication are concerned.
1972‘G. Black’ Bitter Tea (1973) ix. 139 A contractor's lorry..with a *power hoist.
1927A. Huxley Proper Stud. 29 *Power-holders to whose material advantage it would have been to wield their power ruthlessly. 1971T. W. Robinson Cultural Revolution in China i. 18 On the powerholders' side were those groups and individuals having a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. 1977A. Giddens Stud. in Social & Polit. Theory x. 335 All power involves a certain ‘mandate’..which gives power-holders certain rights and imposes on them certain obligations. 1977Dædalus Fall 87 Schools produce the docile work habits the capitalists desire and serve to provide a facade of meritocracy for what is in fact a perpetual class of power holders.
1935Huxley & Haddon We Europeans ii. 37 The *power⁓hunger of potentates. 1946‘G. Orwell’ James Burnham 17 He seems to assume that power-hunger..is a natural instinct.
1946― A. Koestler in Crit. Ess. 134 Spartacus, however, is not represented as *power-hungry, nor, on the other hand, as a visionary. 1960F. Land Lang. Math. vi. 82 The power-hungry countries of the world are determined to remedy their situation. 1973Listener 6 Sept. 307/3 There were ambitious, power-hungry men on both sides.
1936Wirth & Shils tr. Mannheim's Ideology & Utopia iii. 124 Observing the mass-mind, especially its *power-impulses and their functioning. 1938B. Russell Power ii. 21 Their power-impulses..seemed to themselves indubitably righteous.
1944‘G. Orwell’ in Horizon X. 240 No Orchids is aimed at the *power-instinct.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. s.v. Lathe, The *power-lathe is driven by horse-power, water, or steam.
1919Phil. Mag. XXXVIII. 637 We know of no theoretical reason for supposing that the *power-law will give a better approximate representation than any other law, e.g. a sine-law. 1968Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 257/1 Davis & Zerlin..have suggested that.. the amplitude of the averaged vertex response varies with the loudness of the stimulus according to a power law with an exponent of 0·4. 1977Sci. Amer. Jan. 90/2 The inverse-square power-law spectrum of crater sizes on the moon has the property that if there are enough primary craters between one kilometer and 10 kilometers in diameter to cover an entire planet, there are also enough craters between 100 and 1,000 kilometers across to cover it.
1934A. L. Albert Electr. Communication iii. 50 If the amount of noise cannot be reduced, the only alternative is to raise the *power level of the speech or music being transmitted. 1945H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes viii. 85 The production goal..was set at a figure which meant that the pile should operate at a power level of 1000 kw. 1953Language XXIX. 91 The human brain operates on a power-level of five watts. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. i. 52 (heading) Power levels of speech.
1923G. Collins Valley of Eyes Unseen xiv. 305 Luckily, I had just strength enough to reach up and touch the *power-lever. 1951M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 98/2 Her legs..are date-baited power levers for the management of the male audience.
1894A. T. Snell Electr. Motive Power iii. 91 For very heavy *power lines, in which copper cables of about 19/16 s.w.g. are used, the stalks are forged of cast steel, sometimes galvanised. 1956Nature 17 Mar. 536/2 At this remote desert location, interference due to artificial signals from electromagnetic devices and power-lines was negligible. 1970T. Hughes Crow 69 It was a naked powerline, 2000 volts. 1972Daily Tel. 19 June 1/3 The aircraft narrowly missed plunging into a nearby reservoir and skimmed over power lines.
1905Westm. Gaz. 9 Mar. 9/2 It is only by the increase of the ‘*power-load’ which we supply that we can hope to reduce the price of electricity for lighting purposes.
1943Trans. Inst. Mining Engineers CII. 145 The point we are anxious about is whether there is mechanized machinery for taking big *power-loaded outputs from such a dip as 1 in 6. 1963Economist 12 Jan. 142/1 The industry raised its average percentage of power-loaded coal from 49 to 59 per cent between the two years.
1943Trans. Inst. Mining Engineers CII. 40 The present development of the Meco-Moore *power-loader differs from that of a few years ago. 1956F. S. Atkinson in D. L. Linton Sheffield 269 Intensive efforts are being made to replace the hand-loading of coal on to conveyors by mechanical power-loaders.
1946Koestler Thieves in Night 296 It startles me that its up-to-date, stream-lined *power logics should be accompanied by all this maudlin opera stuff. 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 9 Oct. 575/3 Over large tracts of their lives the winds of the Hobbesian power-logic blow unchecked.
1951H. Arendt Orig. Totalitarianism i. 5 Persecution of powerless or *power-losing groups may not be a very pleasant spectacle.
1922Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics II. 109/1 If the condenser has internal *power loss,..the power factor..will not be zero. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 1 Mar. 129/2 It sharply cuts power-loss in transmission and hydraulics.
1935Mind XLIV. 94 Plutarch and Lucian, experienced in the ways of *power⁓loving Rome.
1923D. H. Lawrence Kangaroo xvi. 344 The land..invites parasites now... What would happen if the *power-lust came that way?
1959S. Spender tr. Schiller's Mary Stuart iii. iv. 61 Your uncle, the *power-lusting cardinal.
1835Ure Philos. Manuf. 333 Lace made by *power-machines.
1962Times 2 May 7/4 The *power-mad politicians. 1976B. Bova Multiple Man xviii. 201 He was insane, sir. Crazy. Power-mad.
1971New Scientist 20 May 434/1 Psychology students studying *power-mania.
1963Times 26 Jan. 11/3 It would be hard to see why..even a *power-maniac wanted to leave so charming an island. 1965Punch 22 Sept. 443/2 Ropy little espionage agency, riddled with power-maniacs, sends courier to Europe to pick up important information.
1886All Year Round 14 Aug. 37 Now we've got the American Durand's *power-milker.
1895Oracle Encycl. I. 583/2 A great number of large *power-mills have sprung up.
1654Whitlock Zootomia 396 These are sawcy Truths to obtrude on the *Power-mongers..of the World. 1961Guardian 16 Feb. 10/5 Intellectuals have been found flat on their faces for powermongers to walk over. 1977Rolling Stone 19 May 41/2 Powermongers will undoubtedly find ways to obtain the requisite technology.
1955P. Mullahy in H. S. Sullivan Conceptions Mod. Psychiatry 243 The energy of the infant, or rather its manifestations in the *power motive, become quickly modified or transformed.
1940Sears, Roebuck Catal. Spring/Summer 929 *Power mower. 1957D. Karp Leave me Alone xiv. 192 The young boys in the development cheerfully cut grass with power mowers but disdained raking. 1970R. Lowell Notebk. 28 The lawns, the paths, the harbor—stitched with motors, Yawl-engine, outboard, power mower. 1978J. A. Michener Chesapeake 836 In July he runs his power mower, pushing his lawn back year by year.
1950Vogue (U.S.) 15 Nov. 150/2 (caption) Nylon *power net pantie-girdle..for a smooth line under, say, tight velvet..pants. 1952Woman's Home Compan. Nov. 3 (Advt.), Sheer powernet corselette with the smooth fit of a glove. 1963Times 17 Apr. 16/7 The company will manufacture power-net, fish-net, marquisette curtaining and other fabrics in the Natal area. 1969Sears Catal. Spring/Summer 2 This bra-slip...The power-net frame : cool and smooth..a stretchy blend of nylon and spandex.
1963Times 20 Mar. 15/6 The *power-obsessed journalist.
1957Forbes & O'Beirne Technical Devel. Royal Dutch/Shell iii. 256 For correct operation it was essential that the ‘*power oil’ should be free from impurities and it was therefore necessary to wash it thoroughly above ground. 1972L. M. Harris Introd. Deepwater Floating Drilling Operations xi. 108 The direct system has individual power-oil lines from the drill vessel to the individual functions on the subsea stack.
1917W. G. Raymond Elem. Railroad Engin. (ed. 3) x. 129 In the automatic block system the signal at the entrance of each block is *power-operated, usually electric. 1940War Illustr. 5 Jan. 554/3 The ‘Wellingtons’..with five separate machine-gun positions, including two in power-operated turrets. 1962Lancet 1 Dec. 1155/1 Conventional prosthetic limbs may in fact be incapable of substantial development, but power-operated ones seem certain to become much more practical and effective.
1937Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engin. LXXX. 194/2 This is derived from two grid-controlled rectifier valves operated from a ‘*power pack’ of the usual construction. 1942Electronic Engin. XV. 285/3 The experimental model described, together with a power pack to permit operation direct from the 50 cycle mains, can be assembled on a box chassis measuring only 6½in. × 6½ in. 1958New Scientist 1 May 20/2 Its thickness is controlled by plating time and current, indicated by a graduated ampere-hour meter on the power ‘pack’. 1967Gloss. Mining Terms (B.S.I.) viii. 21 Power pack, a motor-pump combination for producing power for hydraulic equipment. 1971J. Z. Young Introd. Study Man iv. 69 The mitochondria carry the respiratory enzymes, and are hence called the power packs of the cell. 1972F. Bradbury Hydraulic Syst. iii. 43 In a large plant..the control desk and the power pack may be separated by some distance or may be installed in separate machinery spaces. 1973Houston Chron. 21 Oct. 3/1 (Advt.), Penske Road Race... It's big-time racing excitement in a box! With power pack, 2 cars and hand controls, 30-ft. of track. 1977J. Hedgecoe Photographer's Handbk. 35 To produce more light a flash with a larger powerpack is needed.
1958C. C. Adams Space Flight viii. 196 Auxiliaries. These include taxis and propulsion ‘guns’ for individual men in space suits, or reaction *power packages attached like outboard motors to large objects. 1968Listener 27 June 828/1 The power supply to this satellite was a 28 lb device called SNAP/9A. This power package contained as its energy source 17 kilocuries of Plutonium 238.
1945H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes vii. 70 The whole of a *power pile..has to be enclosed in very thick walls of concrete, steel, or other absorbing material.
1961Observer 26 Feb. 18/1 This is now well known as *power-play, a form developed by the All-Blacks and Springboks from the simple logic of the decisiveness of forward domination. 1961J. S. Salak Dict. Amer. Sports 340 Power play (football), a play in which the offensive team concentrates blockers at one point. Ibid., Power-play (ice hockey), launched when a team has an extra man or is trailing in the final minutes, all players rushing into the opponent's zone, and putting on the pressure. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 5 Feb. 17/6 The North Stars lead the NHL in power-play goals with 37. Balon scored on the power play. 1973L. Mosley (title) Power-play: the tumultuous world of Middle East oil 1890–1973. 1976N.Y. Rev. Bks. 15 Apr. 34/2 The Church was making a last desperate power play (for which it is now paying dear) to keep its immigrant children in line. 1976Washington Post 19 Apr. d3/2 Chicago got the first goal of the game, by Cliff Koroll on a power play. 1978Dumfries Courier 13 Oct. 4/2 At No. 3 Donald Bogie, with a variation of power play and finesse, proved too much for an experienced opponent.
1951M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 98/2 To the mind of the modern girl, legs, like busts, are *power points which she has been taught to tailor. 1953K. Tennant Joyful Condemned xxxiii. 323 An iron was plugged in handily to a power point. 1958C. Watson Coffin scarcely Used ix. 86 Purbright watched for the power points. There was one in each of the large bedrooms. 1975G. A. T. Burdett Do your Own Home Wiring xiii. 124 An additional 13A power point can usually be supplied from a ring circuit in the form of a spur. 1978Listener 2 Feb. 159/1 Surrealism..works that sprang into being simply by unplugging the power-points of the mind.
1959M. Shadbolt New Zealanders 174 They found it [sc. a car], bashed and tangled, at the foot of a slanting *power pole. 1973Black Panther 20 Oct. 11/2 The United Boeing severed two power poles.
1870W. Graham Lect. Ephesians 98 This word represents the rulers of this world as mere *power-possessors.
1846Worcester, *Power-press, a printing-press worked by steam, by water, or by other power.
1906Chambers's Jrnl. 27 Oct. 765/2 The internal-combustion engine is coming..rapidly into favour as a cheap *power-producer for almost every kind of work. 1909Westm. Gaz. 19 Oct. 4/1 The overhead valve system of this wonderful power-producer is not uncommon to the engine employed in this firm's racing cars.
1903Daily Chron. 9 Dec. 6/5 That a revolution in *power-producton might result.
1845J. E. Carpenter Poems & Lyrics 65 Its *power-propelling properties were vain.
1946*Power reactor [see burn v.1 13 h]. 1962[see converter 3 f]. 1970IEEE Trans. Nuclear Sci. XVII. i. 520 (heading) Silicon radiation detector monitors nitrogen 16 in a power reactor.
1958New Statesman 9 Aug. 158/1 The meeting..symbolises the change in the *power-relations of the Communist world. 1977Dædalus Fall 66 In this approach it was stressed that the explanation of any institutional arrangement has to be attempted in terms of power relations and negotiations, power struggles and conflicts.
1962R. F. Graf Mod. Dict. Electronics 234/2 *Power response, the frequency-response capabilities of an amplifier running at or near its full rated power. 1963Wireless World July 354/1 The power response at 10W output is -3dB at 15 c/s and 15 kc/s. 1970J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers iii. 68 The latest ‘quality’ amplifiers..boast a power response which is almost as good as the frequency response. 1975Gramophone Nov. 953/3 Power response is taken to be the range of frequencies over which the amplifier can deliver at least half its rated power.
1960McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XIV. 542/1 Bench or circular saws are the common wood⁓working type of *power saw. 1969in Halpert & Story Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland 107 A game of cards, the loan of a power-saw..can act as the favours that initially link two persons together.
1976N. Thornburg Cutter & Bone iv. 108 The car, a late-model Buick Century, seemed to have every possible piece of optional equipment, including *power seats.
1946‘G. Orwell’ James Burnham 4 The English Puritans, the Jacobins, the Bolsheviks, were in each case simply *power-seekers. 1979P. Alexander Show me Hero xxiii. 246 He was the perfect example of the power-seeker... He'd tread on anyone's face to get to the top.
1963A. Heron Towards Quaker View of Sex i. 10 We see human energy that should be creative and loving deflected into activities that are coldly *power-seeking. Ibid. iv. 41 Our tendencies toward aggression and power-seeking. 1977P. Johnson Enemies of Society xii. 169 Marxism..has a methodology of power⁓seeking.
1893A. R. Forsyth Theory of Functions of Complex Variable iii. 56 Any one of the continuations of a uniform function, represented by a *power-series, can be derived from any other. 1938F. E. Terman Fund. Radio v. 136 For electrode voltages such that the instantaneous plate current never became zero, the characteristics of a tube could be expressed in forms of the following power series. 1968P. A. P. Moran Introd. Probability Theory iii. 135 R(z) is a power series whose coefficients tend to zero.
1953A. A. Fraenkel Abstract Set Theory ii. 96 The set of all subsets of S may..be called the *power-set of S. 1963Selby & Sweet Sets, Relations, Functions i. 18 Since A contained four elements, the power set 2A was made up of 24 or 16 subsets, each subset an element of the power set. 1974Encycl. Brit. Macropædia I. 521/1 The power set lattice.., defined by the inclusion relation on the power set P(U) of all subsets of a set U, has important special properties not shared by lattices in general.
1972Times 31 Oct. 15/3 It is safe to say that that kind of enforced *power-sharing is practicable to the extent that the power to be exercised is circumscribed. 1973Hansard Commons 20 Mar. 242/1 We have expressed positive views on many matters in the White Paper—for example,..on power sharing. 1978P. Cosgrave Margaret Thatcher ii. 34 It was widely believed that if there had not been a general election in February 1974 his Northern Ireland ‘power-sharing’ executive would have worked.
1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 669/1 *Power shovel (or navvy), an excavator consisting of a jib carrying a radial arm to the end of which a large bucket or scoop is attached. The bucket makes a radial cut. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. III. 416/2 Power shovels are made which can be rapidly converted into a dragline, crane, or backhoe by changing booms and modifying the rigging. 1971P. O'Donnell Impossible Virgin iii. 57 Stacks of bricks, a concrete mixer, a power-shovel.
1922D. H. Lawrence Aaron's Rod xxi. 311 Yield to the deep *power-soul in the individual man, and obey implicitly.
1944Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. XXIII. 282 The second part is devoted principally to the fundamental result that the *power spectrum of a noise current is the Fourier transform of its correlation function. 1960W. R. Bennett Electr. Noise x. 208 Many important phenomena are found to have a power spectrum even though the Fourier transform itself does not approach a limit. 1972T. H. G. Megson Aircraft Struct. xii. 427 It is assumed that gust velocity is a random variable which may be regarded for analysis as consisting of a large number of sinusoidal components whose amplitudes vary with frequency. The power spectrum of such a function is then defined as the distribution of energy over the frequency range.
1901Daily Express 18 Mar. 2/6 The development of *power-stations all over the country.
1932Automotive Industries 10 Dec. 739/2 The greatest need for *power steering exists undoubtedly in connection with heavy trucks and buses. 1976M. Maguire Scratchproof xii. 182 She gunned the vehicle forward..as she swung the power-steering into a fierce lock.
1903Work 9 May 218/2 Such engines have only one *power stroke in every four. 1966E. Rudinger Consumer's Car Gloss. 113 Every other stroke (the down-stroke) of the piston is a power stroke which drives the engine; whereas in a four-stroke engine, there is only one power stroke in every four.
1950D. Riesman et al. Lonely Crowd xi. 255 Even those intellectuals..who feel themselves very much out of power and who are frightened of those who they think have the power, prefer to be scared by the *power structures they conjure up. 1977Time 4 July 6/1 Brezhnev already ranked No. 1 in the Kremlin power structure and was accorded the diplomatic status due a chief of state nearly everywhere he went.
1961Los Angeles Times 4 Aug. iii. 4 Bitter echoes of the 1960 *power struggle..are still audible in party circles. 1969New Yorker 20 Sept. 110/1 A serious power struggle could take place in the North. 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 669/2 The detention of the four leaders had deprived one main group in the power struggle for the succession of its principal leaders.
1906Westm. Gaz. 19 Apr. 7/2 The *power-supply for the printing presses of the newspapers being cut off.
1943J. S. Huxley Evolutionary Ethics vii. 59 A naked *power-system cannot tolerate tolerance or face even intellectual opposition. 1970C. Furtado in I. L. Horowitz Masses in Lat. Amer. ii. 46 Allowing the landlord class to augment its share in aggregate income and to consolidate its position in the power system.
1929Sears, Roebuck Catal. Spring/Summer 881 This *power take-off and clutch pulley combined makes your Fordson tractor always ready for belt power. 1943C. G. Barger Automotive Mech. I. iv. 123 Power take-offs are used on such vehicles as dump trucks, fire engines, wreckers, and..allow the accessories to be operated by the power of the engine. 1957P. H. Wilkinson Aircraft Engines of World 20 (Advt.), The Lycoming 825–h.p. T53, featuring front-or-rear power take-off, is the world's first turbine designed specifically for helicopters. 1958Times 1 July (Agric. Suppl.) p. viii/2 The mechanism of the trailer is driven with the power-take-off from the tractor and unloads at the rate of three tons in seven minutes. 1972Proc. Inst. Mech. Engineers CLXXXIV. iii. i. 284 Power take-off systems..supplying the power to operate various truck-mounted equipment on tipping gear, garbage packers,..and many more applications. Ibid., Power take-offs (PTOs) are necessary on most of today's trucks.
1951H. Arendt Orig. Totalitarianism v. 141 Hobbes..proceeded from this insight to a plan for a body politic best fitted for this *power-thirsty animal.
1959Sears, Roebuck Catal. Spring-Summer 1299 Make your Drill a new *power tool every time you change accessories. 1961Times 3 Oct. (Computer Suppl.) p. ii/5 Muscles are replaced by machines or power-tools. 1971New Scientist 27 May 529/1 Other batteries still in the development stage..include the silver oxide/zinc cell and the titanium battery, both currently under evaluation..for application in TV, portable powertools and possibly electric vehicles.
1937Times 13 Apr. (Brit. Motor Suppl.) p. vi/4 It is of 4½ litres capacity, and the *power-to-weight ratio is given at 4·2lb. a brake horse-power. 1971Engineering Apr. 72 (Advt.), Reyrolle Hydraulics axial piston pumps and motors. Fixed or variable displacement, with excellent power-to-weight ratio (up to 2·8 hp/lb).
1943C. G. Barger Automotive Mech. I. iv. 107 (heading) *Power train. 1946W. H. Crouse Automotive Mech. i. 24 The power train consists of a series of gears and shafts, which mechanically connect the engine shaft with the car wheels. 1966Economist 10 Sept. 1040/2 Chrysler has gained substantial sales in the United States in the past four years since it began offering a 5-year, 50,000-mile guarantee for the ‘power train’ (engine-transmission-rear-axle) of its American-built cars. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 2 Oct. 8/2 Auto manufacturers are reluctant to offer special-engine versions of all their models and power⁓train combinations.
1929K. Henney Princ. Radio xvi. 403 A.-c. voltages are likely to be picked up by the cores of audio transformers if they are near *power transformers carrying a.-c. currents. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handkb. vii. 17 Electronic power transformers normally operate at a fixed frequency. The most popular frequencies are 50, 60, and 400 Hz.
1959K. Henney Radio Engin. Handbk. (ed. 5) x. 34 The increased ruggedness of the supply due to the inherently stable physical structure of the *power transistor. 1974G. A. G. Bennett Electricity & Mod. Physics (ed. 2) xiv. 271/1 Power transistors are made by the same techniques as other transistors; but the collector, in which most of the heat is dissipated, is fused onto a thick metal mounting plate forming one face of the unit.
1891Times 28 Sept. 13/6 A *power transmission..from the Palmengarten..to the exhibition, a distance of about four kilomètres.
1924Moyer & Wostrel Pract. Radio vii. 103 The volume of sound may be increased by using a *power tube of, say, 5 watts of electric power, in the last stage of amplification. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. vii. 21 Power tubes, in contrast to receiving-type tubes, handle relatively large amounts of power, and..a major emphasis is placed on efficiency. The traditional division between the two tube categories is at the 25-W plate dissipation rating level.
1942F. H. Joseph Lett. home from Brit. at War 44 Machine guns, rear *power turret having four, front power turret two.
1907H. Allen Gas & Oil Engines xiv. 307 A 4-cylinder engine,..having cylinders 8in. diam. and 8in. stroke, capable of running up to 800 revs. per minute, gives a *power unit, when using petrol, of 100 b.h.p. 1908S. H. Moore Mech. Engin. & Machine Shop Pract. xix. 421 Synchronous motors are best adapted for power transmission plants and for large power units of high voltage. 1918G. Sherwood Farm Tractor Handbk. vii. 110 The machine [sc. a Fordson tractor] is merely a power unit and transmission gear en bloc mounted on two pairs of wheels, together with the simplest of control and steering arrangements. 1963Amer. Speech XXXVIII. 120 The auxiliary power unit supplying electrical power to the KC-97 when it is on the ground. 1967C. J. Freezer Model Railway Terminol. 8/1 The power unit is a device which converts the high-voltage mains current into low-voltage currents, often with several outputs.
1922D. H. Lawrence Aaron's Rod xxi. 311 But the deep *power-urge is not conscious of its aims.
1790R. Merry Laurel of Liberty (ed. 2) 13 While none but *pow'r-usurping slaves are free.
1947Koestler in Partisan Rev. XIV. 345 The best way to prolong the *power-vacuum to the west of the Russian bloc..is to proclaim an independent British policy. 1976Times 10 Sept. 1/1 (heading) Mao succession struggle. Death leaves power vacuum in China.
1919W. D. Owen Guide Study Ionic Valve x. 38 *Power valves need to be very hard otherwise the plate voltage would cause a discharge across the space. 1944Wireless World June 163/2 Although power valves are used, they are only lightly loaded and HT volts and current are quite low.
1909Chambers's Jrnl. June 341/1 Thompson in Edinburgh introduced the first *power-vehicle running on india-rubber tires. 1916Ibid. Feb. 83/1 The power-vehicle is also invaluable for communication between commanders and their units.
1831G. R. Porter Silk Manuf. 266 Fabrics which *power-weaving has been found adequate to produce.
1831Engineering 9 Jan. 58/3 Volumetric efficiency is important..in that it affects the *power-weight ratio of an engine. 1950Times Rev. Industry Sept. 25/2 The Swiss Federal Railways has improved the power-weight ratio of single-phase mainline types [of locomotives].
1902H. A. Foster Electr. Engineer's Pocket-Bk. 766 Special precautions of this kind must be taken where sharp angles occur, or where any wires might possibly come in contact with electric light or *power wires. 1911W. Aitken Man. Telephone xx. 409 All power wires from the fuse board are now usually laid up in lead-covered cables. 1938R. Finlayson Brown Man's Burden 41 The new power wires... Ten thousand volts, ehoa!
1862Goulburn Pers. Relig. I. i. vi. 88 As if He had said, ‘My words are *power-words indeed. They take effect’.
1941‘G. Orwell’ England your England in Lion & Unicorn i. 17 *Power-worship..has never touched the common people.
1900Westm. Gaz. 27 Apr. 5/2 The..*power works adjacent to the river.
1921Electrician 11 Mar. 304/2 In the United States where an electric ironing machine..costs about the same as a washing machine, some women use their *power wringer as a cold mangle. 1957Observer 1 Dec. 10/5 There is no national test for power wringers so test the safety release yourself before buying.
g. Designating alcoholic liquids of a grade suitable for generating mechanical power.
1919Rep. Interdepartmental Comm. Alcohol for Power 4 in Parl. Papers (Cmd. 218) X. 117 Some sections of the community believe that the words ‘industrial alcohol’ refer to an inferior spirit for drinking purposes. We recommend, therefore, that all alcohol for power or traction purposes should be described as ‘power alcohol’... This description has already been adopted in Australia. Ibid. 7 All sales..of power alcohol should be made on the basis of a certified percentage by volume of absolute ethyl alcohol, with a minimum of 90 per cent. at a temperature of 62 deg. F. 1920Act 10 & 11 Geo. V c. 18 §11 In this section the expression ‘power methylated spirits’ means any methylated spirits (other than mineralised methylated spirits) which are intended to be used in generating mechanical power. 1922G. W. Monier-Williams Power Alcohol vii. 198 The conversion of the alcohol into power methylated spirits may be carried out only by an authorised methylator. 1934Proc. World Petroleum Congr. 1933 II. 693/2 It is quite a recent innovation to market a ‘power’ kerosine. 1939Sun (Baltimore) 17 Apr. 13/3 Senator Gurney..estimated that if farm surpluses were used to make ‘power alcohol’ to be mixed with gasoline, 840,000,000 bushels of grain would be diverted to that purpose annually. 1940S. Miall New Dict. Chem. 330/2 Power methylated spirit is absolute ethyl alcohol, 92 volumes; benzol, 5 volumes; crude pyridine, 0·5 volume, and crude naphtha, 2·5 volumes. 1955Know Your Tractor (Shell Guide) ii. 27 The cost to the farmer of gasoline and power kerosine is very variable throughout the world. 1957Encycl. Brit. I. 543/1 The use of power methylated spirits practically ceased during World War II. 1961L. M. Miall New Dict. Chem. (ed. 3) 446/2 Power kerosine, a volatile kerosine of high anti-knock value, essentially a blend of aromatic hydrocarbons, used in tractor engines and usually called tractor vaporizing oil (T.V.O.). 1975E. M. Goodger Hydrocarbon Fuels vii. 134 ‘Power kerosine’ or ‘tractor vaporising-oil’ denotes a kerosine blend prepared for spark-ignition engines used in agricultural tractors, which is taxed at a lower rate than that of gasoline.
h. Applied to a sportsman who applies great muscular power to his style of play; also of the style of play itself.
1958Observer 15 June 24/1 The machine-like rhythm and efficiency of her power tennis. 1959Times 29 May 4/7 A power player, he went for every shot. 1959Sunday Express 12 July 12/1 His splendid piece of power-running. 1969New Yorker 14 June 44/3 Graebner could now probably explode one. He has what is almost a setup on his power side. 1973Black Panther 25 Aug. 13/1 Henry Aaron will..establish himself unquestionably as the greatest power hitter in baseball history.
▸ power breakfast n. orig. U.S. a working breakfast, esp. one at which people of authority or influence discuss issues informally; (also) the meal itself.
1980N.Y. Times 12 Nov. c1/3 It's the *power breakfast, political not literary... The literary types wander into their offices after 10. 1987Daily Tel. 30 Jan. 4/7 The pre-dawn frost was still thick around the early birds of St James's Park when Mrs Thatcher, two members of her Cabinet and two junior Ministers hurried across Parliament Square yesterday for Whitehall's first ‘power breakfast’. 1990T. Ruprecht Toronto's Many Faces 341 For ‘power breakfasts’ like museli [sic]..both [restaurants]..have a reputation among the Bay Street and downtown business crowd. 1993Christian Sci. Monitor (Electronic ed.) 9 Aug. 3 For more than three decades, the dons of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party would meet business leaders each month for a power breakfast. Over miso soup or grilled fish, they cut secret deals to help turn Japan into an economic superpower. 2001Business Week (Nexis) 8 Jan. 66 He passes up power breakfasts to stay home and eat with his four kids.
▸ power chord n. Music a loud resonant chord played on the electric guitar in a piece of rock music, usually a root note and its fifth played on the lower strings.
1972M. Saunders in Circular 25 Sept. 3/1 The aggro, as the English would call it, comes out in his guitar work (*power chords at their ultimate) and song-writing. 2000Guardian 17 Oct. i. 23/3 Scott chipped out powerchords and chunks of lead guitar.
▸ power lunch n. orig. U.S. a working lunch, esp. one at which people of authority or influence discuss issues informally; (also) the meal itself.
1980N.Y. Times Mag. 27 Apr. 18/3 ‘You mean gravlax,’ I said instantly, ‘one of the ‘*power lunches’ served at The Four Seasons.’ 1984L. Dienhart & E. M. Pinsel (title) Power lunch: how you can profit from more effective business lunch strategy. 1995New York 10 Apr. 100/3 The Grill Room is where the term power lunch got its start in the seventies, and many of those same moguls are still deciding the fate of Third World countries..over Perrier and paillard. 2000F. Walker Power of Two in J. Adams et al. Girls' Night In 45, I followed his gaze around the Course dining room, totally alienated from all the little power-hunches over power lunches taking place all around us.
▸ power luncher n. orig. U.S. a person who attends a power lunch.
1984Nation's Restaurant News (Nexis) 13 Feb. 109 With all the other *power lunchers vying for tables, it's not surprising that those who are unaware of the backstage competition are placed in what is frequently called ‘Siberia’. 1994New Yorker 5 Sept. 109/1 Implicit was the notion that most top execs today are mere number crunchers and power lunchers, who have lost touch with the hands-on reality of what their companies produce. 2001Birmingham Post (Nexis) 13 Jan. 14 The Metro Bar and Grill has hit the right spot with Birmingham's suits and power lunchers since it opened over a year and a half ago.
▸ power lunching n. orig. U.S. the practice of holding power lunches.
1984Nation's Restaurant News (Nexis) 13 Feb. 109 Here's a quick definition of *power lunching to keep in mind. It's the studied practice of using control of a business meeting at lunch to gain your business objectives. 1997GQ Sept. 116/2 (advt.) Hearty portions of delicious north Italian cuisine in this basement location beneath Old Bond Street DKNY. A spacious yet warm venue for serious power lunching. 2001Black Enterprise (Nexis) Mar. 64 With so much on the line, you can't afford poor manners to be your deal breaker. In fact, there are subtle rules and etiquette to power lunching.
▸ power nap n. orig. and chiefly U.S. a brief but refreshing nap, esp. one taken during a long working day to restore alertness.
1986Chicago Tribune (Nexis) 4 May 1 He attended a party until the wee hours. He had a horse to work, so instead of catching a *power nap, he went directly to the barns at 4.30 a.m., replete in tuxedo and spats. 1992Times (Nexis) 9 Jan. Lech Walesa, aged 48, the president of Poland, takes ten-minute ‘power naps’ during the day, and sometimes dozes while standing... He needs only five hours sleep a night. 2001Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram (Nexis) 24 Mar. Art banks on the 15-minute power nap, saying it gets him through the rest of his long days.
▸ power pop n. a style of pop music characterized by loud volume, a strong melodic line with simple rhythms, heavy use of guitars and keyboards, and often sentimental or romantic lyrics.
1976G. Sculatti in Crawdaddy Sept. 81/1 The track suggests a totally novel brand of *power pop (with cursory hat-tips to Tommy James and late Mott the Hoople). 1983Washington Post 1 Dec. d9/1 This so-called psychedelic movement, embodying both revisionists and revivalists, touches on diverse styles: garage, folk-rock, power pop, psychedelia and mid-period Dylan. 1992Tucson (Arizona) Weekly 21 Dec. 15/1 Def Leppard..the premier power pop band in the world has its share of horror stories. 2001Vanity Fair Nov. 280/2 Hence the inclusion of early-1970s power-pop band Badfinger, a prime example of the revisionist-Snob penchant for elevating the reputations of flagrantly second-rate bands.
▸ power popster n. a person who sings or plays power pop.
1993Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 16 Sept. (Rio Suppl.) e7/1 These punk *power popsters have an edge that bubble-gummy Hollywood bands rarely have. 1994Rolling Stone 2 June 25/1 It may be a million miles away musically from Peter Case's days as the leader of the power popsters the Plimsouls, but fans of the gifted singer/songwriter will want to check out his latest and decidedly stripped-down effort, ‘Peter Case Sings Like Hell’. 2002Rolling Stone 31 Oct. 152 Matthew Sweet To Understand—The Early Recordings... Lost nuggets from the power popster.
▸ power tie n. orig. and chiefly U.S. a bold-coloured tie with a conservative pattern, regarded as worn by men of authority or influence.
1984Washington Post 20 Aug. c1/2 The same Republicans you see in Washington take off their silk *power ties and tie red bandanas around their necks. 2000New Republic 7 Feb. 20/2 Natty in blue pinstripes and a red polka-dot power tie, the candidate speaks warmly of children and hope and national unity.
▸ power trio n. (a) the three most influential people or elements in a particular situation or grouping; (b) a group of three musicians, typically playing electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums, who perform music characterized by a driving rhythm and intense amplification.
1937Chicago Daily Tribune 6 Oct. 21/6 Bill Dickey, on form, will round out the *power trio on which the Yankees relied so much this season. 1970Northwest Arkansas Times 28 Dec. 26 (advt.) The power trio is ushering in a ‘New Culture’ with genius..combining good melodic feeling with an honest harder-than-rock sound. 1999Pop. Music 18 267 The power trio's minimalist instrumentation produced a tough, bare-bones sound. 2001Bristol Evening Post (Nexis) 16 May 27 The problem with any new animated series from America is that it is inevitably up against the power trio of The Simpsons, Beavis and Butthead and South Park.
▸ power user n. (a) a person who or thing which uses power, spec. a consumer of energy resources sold as a commodity; (b) a knowledgeable and sophisticated user of computers.
1885N.Y. Times 4 Oct. 12/7 The English Mechanic thus sums up the question: ‘It would be to the advantage of *power users if a series of exhaustive experiments were made in order to obtain some thoroughly reliable data.’ 1975Business Week (Nexis) 20 Jan. 86 Power users, both large and small, must start adjusting to the realities of the energy squeeze. 1983Dun's Business Month (Nexis) June 92, 1-2-3 is a program for the power user—the manager who has come to think of the VisiCalc-level programs as so many subcompacts trying to do jobs for which a pickup truck is what you really need. 1996Independent 26 Mar. 11/5 We've gotten all the groups to work together—environmentalists, power users, Native American tribes, irrigators. 2002Wall St. Jrnl. 11 Dec. b12 (advt.) Continue to license the full-featured Microsoft suite for power users who create complex, macro-laden spreadsheets or presentations with elaborate, animated builds.
▪ II. power, n.2 dial.
Also 8 poor.
[Etymology obscure (in reference to quot. 1836 it may be noted that power is not the pronunciation of poor in Cornwall).]
The local name in Cornwall of a small species of cod, Gadus minutus, also called power-cod or poor-cod.
1713Jago in Ray's Synopsis 163 Asellus mollis minimus. Cornub. Poor vel Power dictus. 1769Pennant Zool. III. 150 Poor or Power. 1836Yarrell Brit. Fishes II. 161 The Power, or Poor Cod, the smallest of its genus, so called, it is said, on account of its diminutive size, seldom exceeding six or seven inches in length. 1880E. Cornw. Gloss., Power, the fish, Gadus minutus.
▪ III. power, v.
[f. power n.1]
†1. trans. To make powerful, empower, strengthen. Obs. rare.
1540R. Hyrde tr. Vives' Instr. Chr. Wom. (1592) K j, With silence both wisedome & chastitie be sweetly powred. 1729Young Merchant v. xx, Trade gilt their titles, power'd their state.
2. trans. To supply with power, esp. for propulsion. Also fig.
1898W. F. Durand Resistance & Propulsion of Ships v. 326 (heading) Powering ships. 1929Chicago Tribune 31 Jan. 3/8 His plane is a Travelaire, powered with a whirlwind motor. 1954Essays in Crit. IV. 313 Creative activity is often..powered by the drive to accomplish. 1959Times 29 June 12/7 The big traction engines that had powered the carousels. 1962Times 25 Apr. 16/6 The incident..could have powered strong conflict between faith and sex. 1973Sci. Amer. Feb. 102/3 It is the gravitational energy from the falling material, rather than the rotation, that probably powers the X-ray sources. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 30 June 3-e/3 Larvell Blanks and George Hendrick each belted two-run, first-inning homers Tuesday to power the Cleveland Indians to a 4–1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. 1977‘A. York’ Tallant for Trouble iv. 53 The police launch..was powered by two big Perkins engines.
3. intr.
a. To move or travel with great speed or force.
1972J. Mosedale Football ix. 129 The key play sent Nagurski powering toward the line. 1973‘D. Rutherford’ Kick Start ii. 46 The big bike solved all traffic problems for me, whether I was powering to the head of a two mile traffic jam or pulling it on to its stand on a yellow line. 1974Oxford Times 20 Sept. 19/3 Derek Clarke powered in from the right and unleashed a superb shot. 1977Navy News Aug. 38/1 At Mount Wise the following day, Civil Service powered to 256–5 off their 55 overs. 1978Daily Tel. 20 June 13/2 For Michael Marshall..diesel, electric and advanced passenger trains plainly have no appeal to compare with that of the majestic locomotives that powered along the track in the first half of the century.
b. To travel using an engine, esp. as an alternative or supplement to sail.
1975Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 2 Apr. 21/2 We had to power most of the way, that's how little wind there was. 1976‘F. Clifford’ Drummer in Dark xv. 95 The Trident braked and powered round until it pointed down the long smeared runway. 1976T. Heald Let Sleeping Dogs Die viii. 171 A seagoing cabin cruiser..was just beginning to power towards the narrow entrance to the cove.
So ˈpowering vbl. n.
1898W. F. Durand Resistance & Propulsion of Ships v. 340 (heading) Powering by the law of comparison. 1899Engineering Mag. Mar. 1011/1 It is in the powering of the two vessels that the great advance in marine engineering is most apparent. Ibid. 1011/2 The powering of the Oceanic is..about double that of the Great Eastern. 1976R. Lewis Witness my Death i. 19 Coal and dust and slack for the powering of industrial furnaces.
▪ IV. power
obs. form of poor, pour. |