short circuitn.

1854 Q. Rev. 95 146 If the insulator should happen to get wet, the electric fluid will sometimes..run down the post to the earth, and make a short circuit home again to its battery.

1876 W. H. Preece & J. Sivewright Telegraphy 37 A cell is said to be on ‘short circuit’ when the plates are directly connected by means of a conductor.

1893 T. O'C. Sloane Standard Electr. Dict. 482 Short Circuit, a connection between two parts of a circuit, which connection is of low resistance compared to the intercepted portion.

1900 H. M. Hobart Dict. Electr. Engin. I. 98/2 A short circuit occurs when connection takes place, generally through a fault, between two conductors... When the short circuit is one of extremely low resistance it is known as a dead short circuit.

1920 Whittaker's Electr. Engineer's Pocket-bk. (ed. 4) 253 The short-circuit test consists in measuring the voltage and power required to send current through the windings of the machine, and results in ascertaining..the power lost in heat during the passage of the current through them.

1937 A. Koestler Spanish Test. ii. 311 True, at least once a day there is a short-circuit in my consciousness.

1970 J. Shepherd et al. Higher Electr. Engin. (ed. 2) xvii. 547 The circuit-breakers..must be capable of dealing with the maximum possible short-circuit current that can occur at their points of connexion.

1972 D. Bloodworth Any Number can Play xvi. 149 You could both only be relied upon to play it straight if you didn't know everything about each other? As soon as you get a security short-circuit and double agents giggling..someone is bound to give the game away.