ignitern.
/ɪɡˈnʌɪtə/, U.S. /ɪɡˈnaɪdər/ 1.
a. One who ignites.
b. A device to set fire to an explosive or combustible.
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the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > [noun] > going or setting on fire > setting on fire or alight > device for
ignition1881
igniter1883
1883 Q. Rev. Apr. 514 The slow-burning fuse would give its igniter a minute or so of grace to walk quietly away.
1884 Internat. Health Exhib. Official Catal. 129/2 Patent Igniters and Instantaneous Fuses.
1886 D. Clerk Gas Engine viii. 205 The first few explosions cause a condensation of water upon the points and the spark then fails... The igniters then require to be uncoupled.
1887 Sci. Amer. 17 Sept. 187/2 An infernal machine..provided with a time exploder or igniter.
1902 Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 149 453 The hydrocarbon vapour sucked in from the carburettor..causes the igniter to glow brightly.
1905 H. J. Spooner Motors & Motoring 46 The principal features of the sparking plug or igniter.
1907 Westm. Gaz. 18 Nov. 10/2 The low-tension plugs and igniters are neatly placed in the sides of the cylinder heads.
1950 J. V. Casamassa Jet Aircraft Power Syst. xiv. 206 When the engine reaches a predetermined speed, the starter, ignition coils, and the flame igniters are automatically cut out.
1950 Sci. News 15 78 One class [of propellants], called hypergols, react as soon as they come together, a property which eliminates the need for an igniter of some sort.
1954 J. W. T. Walsh Textbk. Illuminating Engin. (ed. 2) xii. 172 A special form of distance controller..switches on the igniter just before the gas is admitted to the burner.
1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics x. 417 The solid rocket motor is composed of a cylindrical combustion chamber, a nozzle, a solid propellant grain, and an igniter.
c. An apparatus for igniting the charge of gases in the cylinder of an internal combustion engine. Also attributive.
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1902 J. E. Hutton in A. C. Harmsworth et al. Motors & Motor-driving (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) viii. 154 The Dawson Ignitor.
1902 Young Engineer 1 352/1 It is fired by an electric spark,..between the platinum points of an igniter..or by means of a dynamo-coil..which produces sparks at the igniter.
1904 A. B. F. Young Compl. Motorist (ed. 2) iv. 96 It is the action of this ‘tweaker’ upon the igniter wire which causes the rupture of the circuit by which the spark is produced.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 11 Nov. 5/2 The special Lodge igniter for aeroplanes.
2. Electronics. A small rod of some refractory material that dips into the pool of mercury in an ignitron and serves as an auxiliary anode for restriking the arc in each cycle.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > [noun] > rectifier > parts of mercury arc rectifier
hot spot1915
pool cathode1931
igniter1933
1933 Electronics 6 166/1 At the present stage of development [of the ignitron] the instantaneous current required by the igniter to start the arc reliably is from 5 to 30 amperes.
1937 A. V. Eastman Fund. Vacuum Tubes iv. 107 One of the major problems in the design of Ignitrons is to make certain that the anode will pick up the discharge as soon as the igniter strikes.
Derivatives
ignitor n.
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1952 M. G. Young & H. S. Bueche Fund. Electronics & Control vi. 253 Because the ignitor can be controlled to cause initiation of the arc at any point in the positive half cycle, the average anode current flow can be controlled as in the case of thyratrons.
1962 C. Susskind Encycl. Electronics 361/1 In pulse-type circuits where capacitors are discharged, the ignitor can be made to start the discharge in less than 1 μsec.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1883