Search the Dictionary

e act of separating a body from others by nonconductors, so as to prevent the transfer of electricity or of heat; also, the state of a body so separated.

fibers to contraction, by artificial stimulation; as, the irritation of a motor nerve by electricity; also, the condition of a muscle and nerve, under such stimulation.

A spark produced by the jumping of electricity across a permanent gap.

A device or mechanism for producing light by electricity. See Incandescent lamp, under Incandescent. Æolipile lamp, a hollow ball of copper containing alcohol which is converted into vapor by a lamp beneath, so as to make a powerful blowpipe flame when the vapor is ignited. Weale. -- Arc lamp (Elec.), a form of lamp i…

size belonging to a ship of war; also, an open boat of any size driven by steam, naphtha, electricity, or the like. Launching ways. (Naut.) See Way, n. (Naut.).

A glass jar or bottle used to accumulate electricity. It is coated with tin foil, within and without, nearly to its top, and is surmounted by a brass knob which communicates with the inner coating, for the purpose of charging it with electricity. It is so named from having been invented in Leyden, Holland.…

A discharge of atmospheric electricity, accompanied by a vivid flash of light, commonly from one cloud to another, sometimes from a cloud to the earth. The sound produced by the electricity in passing rapidly through the atmosphere constitutes thunder.

ion of some desired mechanical effect or work, as weaving by a loom, or the excitation of electricity by an electrical machine.

Pertaining to, or characterized by, electricity by the action of magnets; as, magneto-electric induction. Magneto-electric machine, a form of dynamo-electric machine in which the field is maintained by permanent steel magnets instead of electro-magnets.

A voltaic series of two or more large plates, producing a great quantity of electricity of low tension, and hence adapted to the exhibition of electro-magnetic phenomena. [R.]

treat of such phenomena as seem to depend on the laws both of mechanics and chemistry, as electricity and magnetism.

he prismatic tints produced by depositing a film of peroxide of lead on polished steel by electricity.

tive faculty." Bp. Wilkins. Motive power (Mach.), a natural agent, as water, steam, wind, electricity, etc., used to impart motion to machinery; a motor; a mover.

A prime mover; a machine by means of which a source of power, as steam, moving water, electricity, etc., is made available for doing mechanical work.

r increasing by repetition or accumulation the intensity of a force or action, as heat or electricity. It is particularly used to render such a force or action appreciable or measurable when feeble. See Thermomultiplier.

consist. South. Negatively charged or electrified (Elec.), having a charge of the kind of electricity called negative.

Not conducting; not transmitting a fluid or force; thus, in electricity, wax is a nonconducting substance.

A substance which does not conduct, that is, convey or transmit, heat, electricity, sound, vibration, or the like, or which transmits them with difficulty; an insulator; as, wool is a nonconductor of heat; glass and dry wood are nonconductors of electricity.

A substance that is not an electric; that which transmits electricity, as a metal.

Not electric; conducting electricity.