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phase; as, a polyphase machine, a machine producing two or more pressure waves of electro-motive force, differing in phase; a polyphase current.

e, a light, low chaise, drawn by a pony or a pair of ponies. -- Pony engine, a small locomotive for switching cars from one track to another. [U.S.] -- Pony truck (Locomotive Engine), a truck which has only two wheels. -- Pony truss (Bridge Building), a truss which has so little height that overhead bracing can not b…

the degree of electrification as referred to some standard, as that of the earth; electro-motive force.

An instrument for measuring or comparing electrial potentials or electro-motive forces.

ce. He pressed a letter upon me within this hour. Dryden. Be sure to press upon him every motive. Addison.

impulse of any kind; as, the pressure of poverty; the pressure of taxes; the pressure of motives on the mind; the pressure of civilization. Where the pressure of danger was not felt. Macaulay.

Ostensible reason or motive assigned or assumed as a color or cover for the real reason or motive; pretense; disguise. They suck the blood of those they depend on, under a pretext of service and kindness. L'Estrange. With how much or how little pretext of reason. Dr. H. More.

us concerns; management by priests to gain wealth and power by working upon the religious motives or credulity of others. It is better that men should be governed by priestcraft than by violence. Macaulay.

prudence; prudent; discreet; sometimes, selfish or pecuniary as distinguished from higher motives or influences; as, prudential motives. " A prudential line of conduct." Sir W. Scott.

One who is governed by, or acts from, prudential motives. [R.] Coleridge.

Freedom from any sinister or improper motives or views.

At right angles, as the cranks of a locomotive, which are in planes forming a right angle with each other.

licit by questioning; to inquire into; as, to query the items or the amount; to query the motive or the fact.

), a toothed rack, laid as a rail, to afford a hold for teeth on the driving wheel of locomotive for climbing steep gradients, as in ascending a mountain. -- Rack saw, a saw having wide teeth. -- Rack stick, the stick used in a rack lashing. -- To be on the rack, to suffer torture, physical or mental. -- To live at…

Rail fence. See under Fence. -- Rail guard. (a) A device attached to the front of a locomotive on each side for clearing the rail obstructions. (b) A guard rail. See under Guard. -- Rail joint (Railroad), a splice connecting the adjacent ends of rails, in distinction from a chair, which is merely a seat. The two dev…

In English politics, to desert one's party from interested motives; to forsake one's associates for one's own advantage; in the trades, to work for less wages, or on other conditions, than those established by a trades union. Coleridge . . . incurred the reproach of having ratted, solely by his inability to follow the…

ed in ohms. The reactance of a circuit is equal to the component of the impressed electro-motive force at right angles to the current divided by the current, that is, the component of the impedance due to the self-inductance or capacity of the circuit.

ed or accepted as an explanation; the efficient cause of an occurrence or a phenomenon; a motive for an action or a determination; proof, more or less decisive, for an opinion or a conclusion; principle; efficient cause; final cause; ground of argument. I'll give him reasons for it. Shak. The reason of the motion of th…

in or under by a mental or rational process; to assign to, as a class, a cause, source, a motive, reason, or ground of explanation; as, he referred the phenomena to electrical disturbances. To refer one's self, to have recourse; to betake one's self; to make application; to appeal. [Obs.] I'll refer me to all things se…

ian; that change by which holy affectations and purposes are substituted for the opposite motives in the heart. He saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Chost. Tit. iii. 5.