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Power   /pˈaʊər/   Listen
noun
Power  n.  (Zool.) Same as Poor, the fish.


Power  n.  
1.
Ability to act, regarded as latent or inherent; the faculty of doing or performing something; capacity for action or performance; capability of producing an effect, whether physical or moral: potency; might; as, a man of great power; the power of capillary attraction; money gives power. "One next himself in power, and next in crime."
2.
Ability, regarded as put forth or exerted; strength, force, or energy in action; as, the power of steam in moving an engine; the power of truth, or of argument, in producing conviction; the power of enthusiasm. "The power of fancy."
3.
Capacity of undergoing or suffering; fitness to be acted upon; susceptibility; called also passive power; as, great power of endurance. "Power, then, is active and passive; faculty is active power or capacity; capacity is passive power."
4.
The exercise of a faculty; the employment of strength; the exercise of any kind of control; influence; dominion; sway; command; government. "Power is no blessing in itself but when it is employed to protect the innocent."
5.
The agent exercising an ability to act; an individual invested with authority; an institution, or government, which exercises control; as, the great powers of Europe; hence, often, a superhuman agent; a spirit; a divinity. "The powers of darkness." "And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken."
6.
A military or naval force; an army or navy; a great host. "Never such a power... Was levied in the body of a land."
7.
A large quantity; a great number. (Colloq.)
8.
(Mech.)
(a)
The rate at which mechanical energy is exerted or mechanical work performed, as by an engine or other machine, or an animal, working continuously; as, an engine of twenty horse power. Note: The English unit of power used most commonly is the horse power. See Horse power.
(b)
A mechanical agent; that from which useful mechanical energy is derived; as, water power; steam power; hand power, etc.
(c)
Applied force; force producing motion or pressure; as, the power applied at one and of a lever to lift a weight at the other end. Note: This use in mechanics, of power as a synonym for force, is improper and is becoming obsolete.
(d)
A machine acted upon by an animal, and serving as a motor to drive other machinery; as, a dog power. Note: Power is used adjectively, denoting, driven, or adapted to be driven, by machinery, and not actuated directly by the hand or foot; as, a power lathe; a power loom; a power press.
9.
(Math.) The product arising from the multiplication of a number into itself; as, a square is the second power, and a cube is third power, of a number.
10.
(Metaph.) Mental or moral ability to act; one of the faculties which are possessed by the mind or soul; as, the power of thinking, reasoning, judging, willing, fearing, hoping, etc. "The guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of my powers, drove the grossness... into a received belief."
11.
(Optics) The degree to which a lens, mirror, or any optical instrument, magnifies; in the telescope, and usually in the microscope, the number of times it multiplies, or augments, the apparent diameter of an object; sometimes, in microscopes, the number of times it multiplies the apparent surface.
12.
(Law) An authority enabling a person to dispose of an interest vested either in himself or in another person; ownership by appointment.
13.
Hence, vested authority to act in a given case; as, the business was referred to a committee with power. Note: Power may be predicated of inanimate agents, like the winds and waves, electricity and magnetism, gravitation, etc., or of animal and intelligent beings; and when predicated of these beings, it may indicate physical, mental, or moral ability or capacity.
Mechanical powers. See under Mechanical.
Power loom, or Power press. See Def. 8 (d), note.
Power of attorney. See under Attorney.
Power of a point (relative to a given curve) (Geom.), the result of substituting the coordinates of any point in that expression which being put equal to zero forms the equation of the curve; as, x^(2) + y^(2) - 100 is the power of the point x, y, relative to the circle x^(2) + y^(2) - 100 = 0.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Power" Quotes from Famous Books



... the case of Jane Melville, even those who are neither), take an exaggerated view of the trouble, expense, and annoyance attending the discharge of public duty, and form a low estimate of the good that each honest energetic individual can do to his country by using every means in his power to secure good government, to promote public spirit, and to raise the standard of political morality, the country is on the decline. It may grow rich, it may increase in national prosperity, but, as a nation, it wants the soul of national life and national freedom. I ...
— Mr. Hogarth's Will • Catherine Helen Spence
... reader who has had the patience and the necessary interest in the stupendous problem now confronting the American people, of devising and adopting into general practice independence systems of farming that will restore, increase, and permanently maintain the productive power of American farm lands,—to those who have read thus far the Story of the Soil and who may have some desire for more specific and more complete or comprehensive information upon the subject,—to all such he takes this occasion to say that this ...
— The Story of the Soil • Cyril G. Hopkins
... a cut should go deep enough to reach an artery the size of a knitting needle, or larger, then the blood will spurt out in jets. There is then some danger of so much blood being lost as to weaken one. Our blood, however, has a wonderful power of clotting, or clogging, round the mouth of the cut artery, so that the risk of bleeding to death, except from quite a large artery, like that of the thigh, or the armpit, is ...
— A Handbook of Health • Woods Hutchinson
... are searching for truth, and let us in all humility and candor investigate this particularly important point. It seems to me that St. James's meaning is this—when we have offended or harmed our fellow-men or brethren, we should make all the amends in our power; confess our faults unto them; implore their pardon, and abstain from offensive conduct in future. Do you not think that if he had intended us to interpret it differently, he would have said—'Confess ...
— Inez - A Tale of the Alamo • Augusta J. Evans
... and the driving sleet yelping wolfishly at our heels! Twas the old, old story of Man leaping undaunted as a warrior to conquer his foes—turned back!—beaten!—pursued by serpent and wolf, spirit of darkness and power of destruction, with the light of life flickering low and the endless frosts creeping close to a ...
— Heralds of Empire - Being the Story of One Ramsay Stanhope, Lieutenant to Pierre Radisson in the Northern Fur Trade • Agnes C. Laut


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