| 释义 |
electric, a. and n.|ɪˈlɛktrɪk|
[ad. mod.L. ēlectric-us, f. L. ēlectr-um, Gr. ἤλεκτρον amber: see electr-um and -ic. The mod.L. word seems to have been first used by W. Gilbert in his treatise De Magnete, 1600.]
A. adj.
1. a. Possessing the property (first observed in amber) of developing electricity when excited by friction or by other means.
Originally the word had reference only to the property of attracting light bodies, even the phenomenon of electrical repulsion being a later discovery (Gilbert indeed mentions the non-existence of such a phenomenon as an evidence of a distinction between magnetism and electricity).
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. iv. 78 By Electrick bodies, I conceive..such as conveniently placed unto their objects attract all bodies palpable.
b. Charged with electricity, excited to electrical action. positively electric or negatively electric: charged with positive or negative electricity.
2. a. Of the nature of, or pertaining to, electricity; producing, caused by, or operating by means of, electricity.
Except in the phrases in b, electrical a. is now more usual in this sense. In some cases the choice between the two adjs. is somewhat arbitrarily restricted by usage: thus we usually say ‘an electrical machine’, but ‘an electric battery’.
1675Newton in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men (1841) II. 377 The electric virtue of the glass. 1752Franklin Lett. Wks. 1840 V. 296 From electric fire..spirits may be kindled. 1803Med. Jrnl. IX. 286 The electric power has efficacy sufficient to cure diseases. 1839G. Bird Nat. Phil. Introd. 28 The effects of chemical affinity and electric action being connected. 1851Carpenter Man. Phys. 464 A lady..who was for many months in an electric state so different from that of surrounding bodies, that, etc.
b. Forming phraseological comb. with ns., esp. in many names of instruments for developing, measuring, illustrating, or applying electricity, and of machines, etc. in which electricity serves as the motive or controlling power, as in electric alarm, electric annunciator, electric clock, electric escapement, electric furnace, electric fuse, electric governor, electric heater, electric lamp, electric pendulum, electric railway, electric regulator, electric steam-gauge, electric telegraph, electric telegrapher (see these ns.); electric action Mus., the action of an organ in which the mechanical parts are operated by electricity; electric arc, the luminous electrified space between the points of two electrodes through which a powerful electric current is passing; also attrib., as electric-arc welding (see also arc welding); electric atmosphere, the space round electrical bodies within which they manifest their special properties; electric balance, an instrument for measuring the attractive or repulsive force of electrified bodies; electric battery (see battery 10); electric bell, a bell operated by electricity; electric blanket, an electrically warmed blanket; electric brake, (in electrically driven vehicles) a brake operated by the temporary use of the driving motor as a generator, the resulting current being either returned to the supply line or dissipated as heat in a resistance; hence electric braking; electric bridge, an arrangement of electrical circuits used for measuring the resistance of an element of the circuit; electric calamine Min. (U.S.) = hemimorphite; electric candle, a form of electric-light apparatus in which the carbon pencils are parallel and separated by a layer of plaster of Paris; electric car, (a) N. Amer. a trolley car, (b) a motor car propelled by electrical power; electric chair U.S., an instrument of capital punishment by electrocution; electric charge, the accumulation or condensation of electricity in a Leyden jar or the like; electric chimes, three bells suspended on a metal rod, rung by electricity; electric circuit, the passage of electricity from a body in one electric state to one in another through a conductor, also the conductor; electric column, a form of the voltaic pile; electric conflict (see quot.); electric convulsive therapy = electro-convulsive therapy; electric cooker, an electrically operated cooker; also electric cooking; electric current, the flow of electricity through a conducting body from the positive to the negative pole, or from a high to a low potential; electric density or thickness, the quantity of electricity found at any moment on a given surface; electric discharge, the escape of electricity from a Leyden jar or similar apparatus; also attrib.; electric displacement, see displacement 2 d; electric eel = gymnotus; cf. electrical eel (electrical a. 2); electric egg, an ellipsoidal glass egg, with metallic caps at either end, which, when exhausted of air, may by the action of an electrical machine be filled with faint violet light; electric eye, = magic eye, (a) a photo-electric cell on which a beam of light is directed, the interruption of which acts as a trigger for the operation of electric relays; (b) a miniature cathode-ray tube used as a tuning indicator in a radio receiver, etc.; electric fan, a fan driven by an electric motor; electric fence, a fence, often consisting of a single strand of wire, charged with electricity; hence electric fencing; also fig.; electric field (see field n. 17, quot. 1881); electric fire, (a) used by Franklin as = electric fluid; (b) an electric heater (mainly for domestic use); electric fishes, certain fishes that can give electric shocks; electric fluid, Franklin's term for a (supposed) subtle, imponderable, all-pervading fluid, the cause of electrical phenomena; electric flux (see quots.); electric force, the force with which electricity tends to move matter; electric generator (see generator 2, quot. 1879); electric guitar, a guitar in which the sound from the plucked strings is picked up electromagnetically or by means of a form of condenser microphone and then amplified; hence electric guitarist, one who plays the electric guitar; electric hare, a dummy hare made to run by electricity, used in greyhound racing; also transf. (quot. 1941); electric harpoon, one in which a bursting charge is exploded by electricity; electric hedge nonce-wd., an invisible barrier charged with electricity (see N. & Q. (1959) CCIV. 338); electric helix, a screw-shaped coil of copper wire, used in forming an electro-magnet; electric indicator, indicating electro-magnetic currents; electric iron, an iron (sense 5) heated by an electric element; electric kettle, a kettle heated by electric power; electric kite, that devised by Franklin to attract electricity from the air; electric lobe (see quot. 1849); electric locomotive, an electrically driven railway locomotive engine, powered either by diesel-driven motors or from a contact wire or rail; cf. diesel-electric adj.; electric log, a ship's log registering by electricity; electric machine, usu. spec. a machine for developing frictional electricity; electric mixer, an electrically driven machine or mechanical contrivance for mixing food (cf. mixer 2); electric motor, a motor (motor n. 3) for transforming electric energy into mechanical energy; electric nerve Zool. (see quot. 1940); electric organ, (a) Zool.: (see organ n.1 5, quot. 1773; also quot. 1851 s.v. electrical a. 2); (b) Mus., an organ [organ n.1 2] with an electric action; electric piano, a piano, or an instrument resembling this, in which the mechanism is worked or the sounds are produced electronically; electric potential [potential B. 4], see quots. 1941 and 1962; electric power (cf. power n.1 14); electric precipitation = electrical precipitation; electric range [range n.1 12], an electric cooker; electric ray, (a) = torpedo; (b) = electric wave; electric razor, a razor operated by electricity; electric recording = electrical recording; so electric record; electric regulator, for stopping or starting a machine by electro-magnetic circuit; electric residue, a second charge that tends to arise in a discharged Leyden jar; electric resistance, the opposition offered by a body to the passage of an electric current through it (the reverse of conductivity); electric shaver = electric razor; electric shock, the effect on the animal body of a sudden discharge from a Leyden jar, etc.; also attrib., esp. of medical treatment by means of an electric shock (cf. shock therapy, treatment; electro-shock); electric sign, a sign illuminated by electricity; electric signal, a signal conveyed by electric influence; electric spark, the luminous discharge from the conductor of an electrical machine to a pointed body presented to it; electric steel (see quot. 1919); electric storm Meteorol., a violent disturbance of the electrical condition of the atmosphere, often causing interference with electrical transmissions; electric strength, the stress, usually expressed in kilovolts per millimetre, which an insulating material can withstand without breakdown; dielectric strength; also, the property of withstanding such stress (cf. strength n. 1 j, esp. quot. 1873); electric stress (see quot. 1943); electric switch, a device for interrupting or dividing one circuit and transferring it or part of it to another circuit, a commutator; electric tension, the strain or pressure exerted upon a dielectric in the neighbourhood of an electrified body; electric timeball, a large hollow globe dropped at a particular time by an electric circuit; electric toaster, a toaster operated by electricity; electric toothbrush, a toothbrush which is controlled by electricity; electric torch, (a) a gas-lighter operated by electricity (Knight Dict. Mech. a 1877); (b) a contrivance consisting essentially of an electric lamp enclosed in a portable case containing a battery; electric traction (see quot. 1940); electric train, a train operated by electricity; electric tramway, a tramway operated by electricity; electric typewriter, a typewriter operated by electricity (Funk's Stand. Dict., 1893); electric wand, a baton-shaped electrophorus; electric wave, an electrical wave (see wave n. 5 a, esp. quot. 1889); electric welding = electric-arc welding; electric wind = aura 3 b; electric wires, those of the electric telegraph.
1889Cent. Dict., *Electric action. 1948Penguin Music Mag. VII. 25 Electric action..and similar delights enable modern organists to gambol through Bach fugues at a hair-raising speed.
1885Electrician 31 July p. iv. (Advt.), *Electric Arc Lamps. 1893Operator & Electrical World XXII. 14 (title) *Electric arc welding and metal working. 1936Economist 18 Jan. 150/2 Its business in electrodes, a natural consequence of the development of electric-arc welding.
1879G. B. Prescott Sp. Telephone 104 A wire bearing an electric current seems to be for the time surrounded by an *electric atmosphere.
1887Nature 29 Sept. 522/1 New *electric balances. These balances are founded on the mutual forces, discovered by Ampère, between the fixed and movable portions of an electric circuit.
1795Gentl. Mag. LXV. 141/2 Perhaps the *electric batteries..may be realized. 1946Whittaker's Electr. Engin. Pocket-Bk. (ed. 7) 859 (heading) Commercial electric battery vehicles.
1877Telegraphic Jrnl. V. 7/2 The Manchester Evening News says that the *electric bell system has been carried out..at the Manchester City Hall. 1891A. E. Kennedy in Electr. in Daily Life 239 The first application of electricity to household purposes was presented by the electric bell early in the [19th] century.
1930Punch 16 Apr. 425/1 Had a rotten night. My *electric blanket fused and I had to get up to mend it. 1938S. R. Roget Dict. Electr. Terms (ed. 3) 34/1 Electric blanket, a blanket having woven into it resistance wires by which a certain amount of warming effect can be procured by a current. 1959B.S.I. News Feb. 6/2 The Home Secretary was asked recently in the Commons if he was aware of the number of fires and accidents caused by electric blankets.
1885Electrician 3 July 147/2 Arrangements are being made to render this *electric brake automatic, so that the main circuit will be broken and the brake circuit with the motors closed automatically.
1910Stand. Handbk. Electr. Engin. (ed. 3) 986 An efficiency of 60 per cent could be obtained during retardation by *electric braking.
1836W. T. Brande Man. Chem. (ed. 4) ii. 860 Silicate of Zinc occurs native under the name of *electric calamine. 1946J. R. Partington Gen. & Inorg. Chem. xv. 383 The hydrated silicate..is electric calamine or hemimorphite.
1888F. M. A. Roe Army Lett. (1909) 366 Most of my outings are on the *electric cars. 1899‘Mark Twain’ in Cosmopolitan XXVII. 592 The merry electric car replaced the melancholy bus. 1901Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 27 Oct. 1/4 An electric car ran into a cow last night near Cedar Cottage. 1947Newsweek 8 Sept. 85/3 Electric cars would do in town. 1966Economist 17 Dec. 1246/3 The motor car companies are working hard to improve the battery—the main block in the way of an electric car.
1889Peel City Guardian 8 June 6/2 The preparations, which are to consist of taking a seat in an *electric chair. 1903N.Y. Even. Post. 28 Oct. 12 Two men were sentenced to die in the electric chair. 1948Chicago Daily News 18 Sept. 3/6 A 24-year-old former convict..must die in the electric chair.
1767J. Priestley Hist. Electr. viii. 651 The conductors which form an *electric circuit. 1782Brit. Pat. 1318 3 Making the part..a portion of that electric circuit. 1879G. B. Prescott Sp. Telephone 5 The telephone is a device for transmitting..over an electric circuit..various kinds of sound.
1845Brit. Pat. 10,838 1 Improvements in *Electric Clocks. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 100 Electric clocks may be divided into three classes. 1922Joyce Ulysses 109 They ought to have..an electric clock or a telephone in the coffin.
1814G. J. Singer Elem. Electr. i. i. 27 The *electric column (invented by J. A. De Luc, esq.)..consists of 800 or 1000 small discs, of silver, zinc, and paper. 1840Ann. Electr. Magn. & Chem. IV. 43 The dry electric column..will emit sparks and charge coated glass.
1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 126 A zinc plate..was immersed in the liquid, and a wire united the extremities of the pile: the effect produced hereby, was termed the *electric conflict.
1953Hinsie & Shatzky Psychiatric Dict. (ed. 2) 767/1 *Electric convulsive therapy, or E.C.T., is indicated in mania, depressions, and certain cases of schizophrenia. 1963J. H. Burn Drugs, Med. & Man (ed. 2) xi. 122 Treatment by taking a certain number of tablets each day is much pleasanter than electric convulsion therapy, but electric convulsion therapy is still retained for those patients in whom the drugs are ineffective.
1907Electr. Bull. Jan. 5/1 Tell your husband it was that wretched gas stove and by and bye he will send home an *electric cooker. 1933Archit. Rev. LXXIV. p. xlii, What is the outstanding fact about an ordinary electric cooker? Its capacity for being switched on and off.
1907Electr. Bull. May 9/1 The..most promising field for the introduction of *electric cooking methods is the first-class hotel. Ibid. 9/2 Electric cooking will not appreciably increase the room temperature.
1837Brewster Magnet. 307 The influence of *electric currents. 1863Tyndall Heat i. 19 The existence and direction of an electric current are shown by its action upon a freely suspended magnetic needle.
1935Economist 23 Mar. 690/2 There is no doubt that the electric lighting of streets has made a very big step forward by the use of the *electric discharge lamp, which..illuminates roads without any dark patches.
1794R. J. Thornton Med. Extracts (1796) I. ii. xii. 121 Vandelott makes two species of the *electric eel, the black and reddish. 1881Encycl. Brit. XII. 650/1 The electric eel is the most powerful of electric fishes. 1954G. Durrell 3 Singles to Adv. ix. 205 The rare specimen turned out to be a baby electric eel, some two feet long.
1868Q. Jrnl. Sci. V. 117 Electric discharge in vacuo, such as..an *electric egg. 1877Phil. Mag. III. 176 P. Thiess attempts to derive the action of the electric egg from the fact that the air which surrounds the electrode is charged with the electricity.
1930Electronics Aug. 216/2 ‘*Electric Eye’ for Glass Industry..a photo-electric cell for determining weak spots in glass construction. 1933Ibid. Apr. 103/1 (heading) Bar and rod heating controlled by an electric eye. Ibid., Valve-stem heaters are also available with electric-eye control. 1937Daily Express 3 Mar. 5/2 Take this ‘electric eye’, for example. We're installing it in the hotel driveway to warn people in the street whenever a car's coming out. 1966Punch 23 Nov. 784/1 The period is obviously some time in the future..: electric eyes open the average door.
1883Electr. Light 1 Mar. 173/1 *Electric fans. The small electric motors..have been ingeniously applied, under a patent recently taken out, to the working of fans for drawing-room use. 1905A. Bennett Sacred & Profane Love ii. iv. 168 The electric fans revolved ceaselessly.
1901L. G. Brown Among Tuaregs in D. Ker Knight of Honour 46 ‘It is my *electric fence,’ he replied. 1944G. Henderson Farming Ladder xv. 174 The calves..are confined with a single, thin strand of wire, electrically charged, and which they graze up to, but do not touch. We are great believers in electric fences. 1952M. McCarthy Groves of Academe (1953) vi. 98 Her personality was posted with all sorts of No Trespassing signs and criss-crossed with electric fences, which repelled the intruder with a smart shock. 1958Times 26 May 9/7 Electric fences are used everywhere and the grass so saved conserved as silage or hay.
1942Farming Handbk. 41 Considerable success has been reported from several quarters with *electric fencing.
1943Gloss. Terms Telecomm. (B.S.I.) 4 In contradistinction [to electric circuit], an *electric field implies action which can only be specified uniquely in terms of time and two or three dimensions. 1962Corson & Lorrain Introd. Electromagn. Fields ii. 29 We define the electric field intensity E to be the force per unit charge exerted on a test charge in a field.
1921Spectator 9 Apr. 455/1 A ‘Magicoal’ *electric fire, a device which..deceives our short-sighted friends into believing that we are burning an unconscionable amount of the best coal. 1933Sunday Referee 2 July 16/2 In the living-room is..a ply-wood built-in book-case, at one end of which is an electric fire.
c1790J. Imison Sch. Arts I, The *electric fluid with which the conductor is overloaded, repels the electric fluid from those parts of the threads, &c. which are next to it. 1854Lardner Mus. Sc. & Art III. 119 The electric fluid is deposited in a latent state in unlimited quantity in the earth, the waters, the atmosphere.
[1904Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 230/2 Flux (Elect.), the total number of lines of force which pass through any given space or cross any given area.] 1904Electr. Rev. (N.Y.) 24 Dec. 1040/1 (title) A hydrodynamic model of *electric flux. 1934Webster, Electric flux, the flux existing in the space between charged bodies.
1885Electrician 9 Oct. 411/2 A dynamo electric machine..will permit of the establishment of the *electric furnace on a larger scale. 1937Discovery May 153/2 There is an increasing tonnage of high speed steel being melted in the high frequency electric furnace.
1938Oxf. Compan. Mus. 288/1 *Electric Guitars, Mandolins, &c., were by 1936 on the market. 1940Sears, Roebuck Spring & Summer Catal. 561 Give your guitar the volume and tone of an electric guitar. 1959H. Hobson Mission House Murder ii. 13 A nice, clean, unusual noise from vibraharp, electric guitar, a piano and a..bass-viol.
1957Observer 1 Dec. 14/2 The Negro *electric-guitarist Charlie Christian, who died in 1942 [etc.].
1927Punch 27 July 85/3 A greyhound race at the White City had to be re-run last week because the *electric hare ran too fast. 1941Hutchinson's Pict. Hist. War 19 Mar.–13 May 219 An ingenious device now in operation for the training of air gunners is an ‘electric hare’ plane. Mounted on a truck, it is run at high speed round the track while the gunner works from a mobile turret.
a1877Knight Dict. Mech. I. 780/2 *Electric heater, a device in which a fine platinum wire heated by a passing electric current is made to communicate sensible heat as a means of warming or burning, as the case may be. 1935Discovery May 145/1 A small electric heater is placed under the table.
1921G. B. Shaw Back to Methuselah iv. i. 169 The Elderly Gentleman:.. When I tried to step off the pier on to the road, I received a shock, followed by an attack of pins and needles which ceased only when I stepped back on to the stones. Zoo: Yes: there is an *electric hedge there. It is a very old and very crude method of keeping animals from straying.
1907Electr. Bull. Aug. 32/2 (heading) *Electric Irons. Ibid., Ironing benches, each equipped with an electric iron. 1920Whittaker's Electr. Engin. Pocket-Bk. (ed. 4) 491 The average loading of an electric iron is 70 to 80 watts per lb.
[1907Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 270 Electric Copper Kettle.] 1910H. G. Wells New Machiavelli ii. iv. 252 Everything was put ready for me to make tea..*electric kettle, infuser, biscuits. 1965M. Erskine Take Dark Journey vi. 68 The electric kettle was plugged in..but not turned on.
1856Brit. Pat. 2456 1 We, Joseph Lacassagne, Chemist, and Rodolphe Thiers, Manufacturer,..do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for ‘An Improved *Electric Lamp’, to be as follows [etc.]. 1882Electric Light 1 June 21/1 Incandescent lamps, in which a carbon thread is enclosed in a glass bulb..form the safest kind of electric lamp.
1849Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 461 Of the four lobes of the brain, the fourth only is found to actuate the electric current; it is hence called the *electric lobe. 1935Discovery Nov. 327/2 A special brain-centre [in the Electric torpedo fish] known as the electric lobe. The organ as a whole resembles a beehive, for the electrogenic units or elements are grouped in batteries of prismatic form.
1884Pop. Sci. Monthly XXIV. 745 This motor is connected with the driving-wheels by gearing, belting, [etc.]..so that its revolution produces..a consequent progressive motion of the *electric locomotive.
1760Wesley Desideratum: Electr. Made Plain 35 That the *Electric Machine may as properly be term'd a Fire-Pump, as Mr. Boyle's Machine, an Air Pump?
1933Pop. Sci. Jan. 50/1 *Electric Mixer... Driven by a small motor, this new kitchen utensil..is said to cause no radio interference. 1959Which? June 44/1 Many women who have long ago accepted every other kind of electric domestic gadget seem to be still vehemently divided about the merits of the electric mixer.
1886Electrician 15 Jan 194/1 With *electric motors..one has to be contented with a much lower efficiency. 1936Discovery Aug. 238/1 Each of the shutters for the nine lenses is actuated by an individual electric motor.
1935Ibid. Nov. 329/2 (caption) Cross section of Malopterurus electricus. Nfe, *electric nerve; oe, electric organ. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 285/2 Electric nerve, a modified motor nerve, serving an electric tissue.
1870Rolleston Anim. Life Introd. 128 *Electric organs of Fishes. 1944J. S. Huxley On Living in Rev. iv. 50 The eel's electric organs. 1885Electr. Engin. Mar. 149/1 We are enabled to imagine in our houses..*electric pianos and organs. 1886Telegraphic Jrnl. 17 Sept. 294/2 (caption) An electric organ. 1936Discovery July 223/2 This cupboard full of valves replaces, in the Coupleux electric organ, the pipe-chest of the ordinary organ.
1885*Electric piano [see electric organ]. 1927A. Huxley Let. 17 May (1969) 286 Everything happening to the strains of the steam organs and electric pianos of the inevitable Flemish kermesse. 1938A. E. Wier Macmillan Encycl. Mus. 519 Electric piano, an instrument to which the principle of electric amplification is applied; the sound-board and tri-chord strings are dispensed with, and a microphone picks up the sound from the strings in groups of five. 1969It 13–28 June 12/2 Eclection were seen for the first time with new member John Palmer, who plays excellent flute and vibes but rather erratic electric piano.
1871English Mechanic 12 May 193/1 With *electric potentials of less amount than sufficient to decompose water, they can be charged and discharged like condensers. 1902Electric potential [see potential B. 4]. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXX. 449/1 A transverse difference of electric potential (Hall effect). 1941S. R. Roget Dict. Electr. Terms (ed. 4) 282/2 Electric potential, the quality, analogous to pressure, which tends to cause a flow of electricity from a point where it is higher to a point where it is lower. 1962S. Handel Dict. Electronics 112 Electric potential, of a point, the potential difference between the point and some equipotential surface, usually that of the earth which is chosen to have zero potential.
1883Encycl. Brit. XX. 249/2 The first attempt to apply *electric power for propulsion on railways was made..in 1842. 1922Ibid. XXX. 955/2 A Departmental Committee..on electric power supply was formed. Ibid. 958/1 The latest statistics available for Canada..show 795 central electric power stations. 1956A. H. Compton Atomic Quest v. 340 Electric power came from curiosity about the relation between electricity and magnetism.
1920Whittaker's Electr. Engin. Pocket-Bk. (ed. 4) 651 The *Electric Precipitation of Smoke and Fumes... The precipitation of dust and fume suspended in gases, by means of the electrostatic field..has only been applied to industrial purposes within the last six years.
1882Proc. R. Inst. Gt. Brit. X. 69 Siemens' Lichterfelde *Electric Railway, now running at Berlin. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 228/1 An overhead electric railway runs from the Zoologischer Garten to the Schlesisches Thor.
1921Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 26 Mar. 3/1 A complete little home, 4-room, modern and almost new..hot water heating system and very good *electric range. 1922Encycl. Brit. XXX. 957/2 Another activity curtailed by the war was the organized sale of electric ranges.
1774J. Walsh in Philos. Trans. R. Soc. LXIV. 464 The Torpedo, or *Electric Ray, frequents the shores of this island, contrary to a received opinion among Naturalists. 1862Couch Brit. Fishes I. 119. 1880 Encycl. Brit. XII. 649/2 The electric rays (Torpedinidæ). 1896Pearson's Mag. II. 754/2 A solid wall..is very transparent to the electric ray. 1897Strand Mag. Mar. 273/1 Electric rays or waves..will penetrate all substances at all distances. 1958G. Durrell Encounters with Animals ii. 88 The electric-ray or torpedo-fish, a curious creature that looks rather like a frying-pan run over by a steam-roller.
1933Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 1007/1 (caption) A Vibrating *Electric Razor. 1945S. Lewis Cass Timberlane (1946) xxi. 126 She made coffee for them, and she lent them an electric razor.
1926Glasgow Herald 16 Dec. 13/6 Columbia introduced *Electric Recording into Great Britain... This is the first Christmas that a..programme of *Electric Records has been available for the gramophone.
1940F. & R. Lockridge Norths meet Murder iii. 55 He..had recently bought an *electric shaver. 1959Listener 30 July 161/1 Infra-red cookers, electric shavers, sterophonic amplifiers.
1767J. Priestley Hist. Electr. p. xiii, The *electric shock itself..will appear almost as surprising, as any discovery that he [sc. Sir Isaac Newton] made. 1779J. Wedgwood Let. 8 Nov. (1965) 244 The Doctor gives us great hopes of our poor little girl's limbs being restored, even without the assistance of the electric shocks. 1802Paley Nat. Theol. xix. (1817) 166 Power of giving the electric shock. 1839G. Bird Nat. Phil. 230 Electricity..will discharge itself through his arms, producing an electric shock. 1881[see colloquialism 2]. 1934H. C. Warren Dict. Psychol. 90/2 Electric shock method, a variety of the method of punishment in animal training, whereby a habit is broken or a new habit formed by applying an electric shock at some point in the behavior series. 1947P. L. Harriman Dict. Psychol. 118 Electric-shock therapy, treatment of mental disorders by electric shocks to the head of the patient. 1958Listener 13 Nov. 799/1 The inventor of electric shock treatment.
1907Electr. Bull. Jan. 31 (Advt.), Art Fittings, Lamps..*Electric Signs and Letters. 1937Discovery July 217/1 Electric signs, posters, magazines, catalogues, all use the appeal of colour to enhance their commercial value.
1812Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 105 When two in volume of this gas, and one in volume of oxygene, are acted upon by an *electric spark, over mercury, they inflame.
1909Cent. Dict. Suppl. I. 415/1 *Electric steel process. 1919E. Hendrick Chem. Everyday Life xi. 99 Electric steel is the latest method whereby the steel is heated, and the required ingredients added in an electric furnace.
1872F. M. A. Roe Army Lett. (1909) 52 There was a terrific rain and *electric storm last evening. 1906Springfield Weekly Republ. 14 June 16 A severe electric storm, accompanied by a high wind, swept over Springfield. 1944‘G. Graham’ Earth & High Heaven 277 ‘Must have been a bad electric storm lately,’ he remarked.
1934Webster, *Electric strength.
1886Electrician 15 Jan. 187/1 U1 is the intensity of the *electric stress. 1935Discovery July 213/2 The behaviour of air, solids, liquids and the vacuum respectively as dielectrics when under high electric stress. 1943Gloss. Terms Electr. Engin. (B.S.I.) 12 Electric stress, the stress occurring in an insulating material when subjected to an electric force.
1913Technical World Mag. 152 (Advt.), The economy *electric toaster. 1926Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 3 July 10/2 (Advt.), Upright Electric Toasters. Will toast two pieces at the one time. Heavy nickelplated finish. 1951Catal. of Exhibits, S. Bank Exhib., Festival of Britain 133/2 Automatic electric toaster.
1936Punch 20 Apr. 478/2 The latest invention is an *electric toothbrush. 1963Which? Dec. 374/2 An electric toothbrush is not very different in principle from an ordinary toothbrush. You still have a stick with a brush on the end, but instead of moving the brush by hand, the brush is driven by a small electric motor.
1875English Mechanic 9 July 441/3 (title) Frictional *electric torch. 1902Windsor Mag. June p. xxv/2 (Advt.), The ‘Ever-Ready’ Portable Electric Torch. 1925E. F. Norton Fight for Everest, 1924 v. 102 Somervell and I had to carry..a light rucksack apiece, with compass, electric torch, [etc.].
1888Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 495/2 Another method of effecting *electric traction is to carry a store of energy on the car or on a special locomotive. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 286/1 Electric traction, the operation of a railway or road vehicle by means of electric motors, which obtain their power from an overhead contact wire or from generators or batteries mounted on the vehicle.
1901Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engin. 1900 XVII. 90 In the future there may be a..tendency to reduce the weight of *electric trains. 1908A. Bennett Buried Alive vi. 139 The roar of an electric train. 1939‘R. Crompton’ William & A.R.P. vii. 185 ‘Steal that electric train of his he's always swankin' about,’ suggested Ginger.
1885Electrician 3 July 146/2 With *electric tramways the energy (electricity) is conveyed from the generating station to the rails.
1958Oxf. Mail 30 Sept. 10/5 Apart from the fact that an *electric typewriter makes typing easier and faster, many more clear carbon copies can be obtained than on an ordinary typewriter. 1964T. L. Kinsey Audio-Typing & Electric Typewriters iv. 35 It takes twenty-two times more mechanical energy to operate a manual typewriter than it does to operate an IBM electric typewriter.
1871Leisure Hour 18 Nov. 720/2 The *electric wave, produced by a few pieces of copper and zinc. 1895S. P. Thompson Electr. & Magn. (new ed.) ii. xiv. §516 In the case of true electric waves, portions of the energy of the current..are thrown off. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 55/2 Electric waves must be passing through the dielectric surrounding a condenser in the act of discharging.
1890Times 17 Jan. 3/3 *Electric Welding..is the invention of Professor Elihu Thomson, of Lynn, United States... The development of electric welding in America has been rapid. 1907[see welding vbl. n.1 3]. 1930Engineering 8 Aug. 164/1 The chapter..giving..information on..electric and gas welding.
1899Phil. Mag. XLVIII. 401 (title) On the velocity and mass of the ions in the *electric wind in air.
1854Dickens Hard T. ii. vi. (C.D. ed.) 115 The *electric wires..ruled a colossal strip of music-paper out of the evening sky.
3. fig. Chiefly with reference to the swiftness of electricity, or to the thrilling effect of the electric shock; also in obvious metaphorical uses of the phrases in 2 b.
1793Coleridge Songs of Pixies v, The electric flash, that from the melting eye Darts the fond question or the soft reply. 1819L. Hunt Indicator No. 6 We..feel the electric virtue of his [Shakespeare's] hand. 1830Sir J. Herschel Stud. Nat. Phil. i. ii. (1851) 29 The effect on all on board might well be conceived to have been electric. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. (1858) 175 Wait a little, till the entire nation is in an electric state. 1871Palgrave Lyr. Poems 133 A thrill of electric pain Smote through each English breast.
4. electric blue: a trade name for a steely-blue colour used for textile fabrics; also, a brilliant light blue; also in extended use and ellipt. electric green = electric blue.
1873Young Englishwoman Feb. 77/1 One model..is of bronze velvet and electric green silk. 1882Queen 23 Dec. (Advt.), Opera hood..Black, Brown, Cream, Pale Blue, and Electric. 1893Ladies' Home Jrnl. Oct. 2/2 Her preference is for subdued tints, her favorite color being a soft shade of electric blue. 1912Queen 4 May 750/2 Lady Mary C. in electric-blue cloth with black and white hat. 1955Times 9 July 3/3 A huge black fish with a brilliant electric blue tail.
5. Comb., as † electric-magnetic = electro-magnetic.
1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 71 Ascribing to the influence of electric magnetic causes the accuracy with which he succeeds in all his experiments.
B. n.
1. A substance in which the electric force can be excited and accumulated by friction. See A. 1.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 81 Our other discourse of Electricks concerneth a generall opinion touching Jet and Amber. 1664Power Exp. Philos. ii. 133 The effluviums of an Electrick upon its retreat, pluck up Straws. 1748Franklin Lett. Wks. 1840 V. 211 Air is an electric per se. 1832Nat. Phil. II. Electric iii. §56. 14 (Usef. Knowl. Soc.) The essential parts of..an electrical machine..are the electric, the rubber, etc. 1870R. Ferguson Electr. 51 The term electrics is applied to those substances which, when held in the hands and rubbed, become electric.
2. positive (negative) electrics: = electro-positive (-negative) substances.
1842Turner Chem. (ed. 7) 130 Negative Electrics—Oxygen, Sulphur, Nitrogen..Positive Electrics—Potassium-Sodium, Lithium, etc.
3. Short for (a) electric lamp, light; (b) electric motor car, railway, tramcar, etc.; (c) electric circuit; (d) electric company shares.
1886Harper's Mag. July 314/1 The light of common day..is preferable to any manner of..alabaster lamps, or even the latest improvement in electrics. 1890Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 3 Mar. 1/7 Do the electrics travel too fast for the public safety? 1892S. Hale Lett. (1919) 269 There are cables, and electrics, but these haven't entirely driven out the horse. 1896New Peterson Mag. Jan. 65/2 [They] would no more enter an ‘electric’ than they would give up wearing mitts all day. 1897Kipling Capt. Cour. 215 Harvey..was asleep before his father could shade the electrics. 1905E. Glyn Viciss. Evangeline 166 In the twinkle of an eye we were rolling in the electric to Willis's. 1909Westm. Gaz. 2 Sept. 9/1 Underground electrics. 1916E. Wallace Clue Twisted Candle (1917) xiii. 149 He felt for the switch of the electric. 1924S. Glaspell Fidelity iv. 33 She told him..that Mrs. Blair had come for Mrs. Franklin in her ‘electric’ and they had gone to a tea. 1931Economist 10 Jan. 78/2 Rates, especially for electrics, potash and stores, were far below the level of the beginning of December. 1946A. Phelps I couldn't care Less xiv. 118 Checking some of the other electrics and finding them working I realized..there must be a break in that circuit somewhere. 1947Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LI. 92/2 Electrics in the small and medium aircraft may absorb only a small fraction of the auxiliary power load. 1959Engineering 16 Jan. 86/2 Booklets on glass fibre, yacht electrics, sail rigs. 1961Countryman LVIII. 435 Last summer I returned, glad to find so much the same, except for ‘the electric’ which stretches its ugly spider poles to every croft. 1963Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 7/1 He tried to lower his flaps part way—forgetting, in the anxiety of the moment, that without electrics his flap position indicator would not work. 1970Which? May 143/1 The electrics are described as ‘solid state’, which means they use printed circuits instead of wires.
▸ electric window n. (on a motor vehicle) a side window which is opened and closed using electric power.
1946Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail 4 June 15/4 (advt.) Chrysler ‘Crown Imperial’ 4 door sedan, *electric windows and extras. 2001Which Kit? May 52/3 The electric windows on the demo car zoom up and down effortlessly. |