gas dischargen.
/ˌɡas ˈdɪstʃɑːdʒ/, U.S. /ˌɡæs ˈdɪstʃɑrdʒ/ A flow of electricity through a gas, typically accompanied by emission of light; a body of gas in which this is occurring.
ΚΠ
1884 Proc. Royal Soc. 47 526 The mysterious appearance of the gas discharge remains unexplained.
1947 J. G. Crowther & R. Whiddington Sci. at War i. 47 The final form was a cavity..with a small pilot discharge or ‘keep alive’ to help the gas discharge to start.
1950 Sci. Monthly July 4/2 He attempted to measure the field distribution in a gas discharge.
1953 A. G. E. Pearse Histochem. iii. 38 If a spark from this is directed on the glass wall of the system..a coloured glow indicates a gas discharge.
2004 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 362 45 Place the sample in a gas discharge and analyse the light emitted by the sputtered atoms.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
ΚΠ
1916 Sci. Abstr. B. 19 414 The magnification obtained by the gas discharge lamp corresponds approximately to that produced by Shreeve's or Brown's relay.
1961 M. G. Say Electr. Engineer's Ref. Bk. (ed. 10) xx. 7 The gas-discharge valve..differs in an important respect from the high vacuum, thermionic valve.
1972 New Scientist 9 Nov. 335/2 Flat TV screens using the gas discharge principle.
1999 Mail on Sunday 26 Sept. 20 (advt.) To make sure nothing spoils your fun, there's gas discharge headlamps and an enhanced ABS system.
C2.
gas discharge tube n. a gas-filled lamp or tube in which an electric discharge can be produced between two electrodes.
ΚΠ
1922 Science 4 Aug. 147/1 Gas discharge tubes for use as sources of ultra-violet light.
1964 B. V. Rollin Introd. Electronics v. 63 (caption) The characteristic of a cold cathode gas discharge tube.
2004 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 362 2261 Gas-discharge tubes that serve as an over-voltage protection.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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