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Electricity   /ɪlˌɛktrˈɪsəti/   Listen
noun
Electricity  n.  (pl. electricities)  
1.
(Physics) A property of certain of the fundamental particles of which matter is composed, called also electric charge, and being of two types, designated positive and negative; the property of electric charge on a particle or physical body creates a force field which affects other particles or bodies possessing electric charge; positive charges create a repulsive force between them, and negative charges also create a repulsive force. A positively charged body and a negatively charged body will create an attractive force between them. The unit of electrical charge is the coulomb, and the intensity of the force field at any point is measured in volts.
2.
Any of several phenomena associated with the accumulation or movement of electrically charged particles within material bodies, classified as static electricity and electric current. Static electricity is often observed in everyday life, when it causes certain materials to cling together; when sufficient static charge is accumulated, an electric current may pass through the air between two charged bodies, and is observed as a visible spark; when the spark passes from a human body to another object it may be felt as a mild to strong painful sensation. Electricity in the form of electric current is put to many practical uses in electrical and electronic devices. Lightning is also known to be a form of electric current passing between clouds and the ground, or between two clouds. Electric currents may produce heat, light, concussion, and often chemical changes when passed between objects or through any imperfectly conducting substance or space. Accumulation of electrical charge or generation of a voltage differnce between two parts of a complex object may be caused by any of a variety of disturbances of molecular equilibrium, whether from a chemical, physical, or mechanical, cause. Electric current in metals and most other solid coductors is carried by the movement of electrons from one part of the metal to another. In ionic solutions and in semiconductors, other types of movement of charged particles may be responsible for the observed electrical current. Note: Electricity is manifested under following different forms: (a) Statical electricity, called also Frictional electricity or Common electricity, electricity in the condition of a stationary charge, in which the disturbance is produced by friction, as of glass, amber, etc., or by induction. (b) Dynamical electricity, called also Voltaic electricity, electricity in motion, or as a current produced by chemical decomposition, as by means of a voltaic battery, or by mechanical action, as by dynamo-electric machines. (c) Thermoelectricity, in which the disturbing cause is heat (attended possibly with some chemical action). It is developed by uniting two pieces of unlike metals in a bar, and then heating the bar unequally. (d) Atmospheric electricity, any condition of electrical disturbance in the atmosphere or clouds, due to some or all of the above mentioned causes. (e) Magnetic electricity, electricity developed by the action of magnets. (f) Positive electricity, the electricity that appears at the positive pole or anode of a battery, or that is produced by friction of glass; called also vitreous electricity. (g) Negative electricity, the electricity that appears at the negative pole or cathode, or is produced by the friction of resinous substance; called also resinous electricity. (h) Organic electricity, that which is developed in organic structures, either animal or vegetable, the phrase animal electricity being much more common.
3.
The science which studies the phenomena and laws of electricity; electrical science.
4.
Fig.: excitement, anticipation, or emotional tension, usually caused by the occurrence or expectation of something unusual or important.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Electricity" Quotes from Famous Books



... on this subject is more acute than it needs to be because the suffrage atmosphere just now is highly charged with electricity. The Shafroth Amendment is a first-rate little amendment and the sooner it passes ...
— The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume V • Ida Husted Harper

... understand, your cruel day is over in the East!" You still have many things to learn, base worshippers of gold; When you were wild barbarians, our Governments were old! Your self-conceit and arrogance we therefore laugh to scorn; We had our laws millenniums before your courts were born. You talk by electricity, you ride on wings of steam, You thunder with machinery,—and these you proudly deem The grandest triumphs of the race, forgetting that mere speed In transference of men and things is ...
— Poems • John L. Stoddard

... newspaper palace, with the elevated road cutting across its face, several tall apartment houses thrusting up their lighted windows into the night, telegraph offices, bars, apothecaries, florists, confectioners, tobacconists, jewelry shops galore, all signed with electricity, and producing that wonderful glitter and glare that is both so bizarre and so enchanting. A street, do we call this? It is a scene, most theatrical and gorgeous, and set for the great human comedy which is even now being ...
— Ainslee's, Vol. 15, No. 5, June 1905 • Various

... a suffocatingly hot night and their foreheads reeked with sweat. Dim shapes on the walls of the room indicated what by day was a tangle of clockwork and recording instruments, connected by electricity with various buttons and switches upon the table. The brother of the big clock in the wireless operating room hung nearby, its face illuminated by a tiny electric lamp, showing the hour to be eleven-fifty. Occasionally the younger man made a remark in a low tone, and ...
— The Man Who Rocked the Earth • Arthur Train

... doorway brightly lighted with electricity, proved a pleasant surprise. It looked clean and bright and new, and the proprietor, a cheerful and self-respecting citizen, was equally reassuring. We went to our rooms ...
— A Daughter of the Middle Border • Hamlin Garland


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