national gridn.
/ˌnaʃn̩(ə)l ˈɡrɪd/, /ˌnaʃən(ə)l ˈɡrɪd/, U.S. /ˌnæʃən(ə)l ˈɡrɪd/, /ˌnæʃn(ə)l ˈɡrɪd/ 1. Originally British. A network of high-voltage power lines interconnecting the major power stations and electricity distribution centres in a country; a similar network for water or gas distribution (cf. grid n. 8b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical power, electricity > distribution system > [noun]
network1883
grid1926
national grid1930
1930 Times 22 Mar. 19/2 There will be no great rush of new business consequent on the completion of the national ‘Grid’ system, as was contemplated in some quarters.
1943 Times 8 Dec. 5/5 Should not our leading water engineers be called upon by the Ministry of Reconstruction to report and prepare comprehensive plans for a national grid?
1967 Times 13 Dec. 4/2 Mr. Wilson had said that comparative calculations were not possible for the gas industry, because there was not yet an equivalent of the national grid.
1986 Oban Times 18 Sept. 3/2 Gas to Bute was shipped by tanker which made it particularly susceptible to price increases. Similar fears arose for those places which were not linked to the National Grid.
1999 Daily Nation (Nairobi) 9 Dec. 14/2 The Olkaria Geothermal II and III and Sondu Miriu..will add 188 megawatts to the national grid.
2. A national coordinate system and reference grid used by cartographers and printed on maps; (now) spec. the metric coordinate system used in Britain by the Ordnance Survey since c1945, having a true origin at 2°W. 49°N. and a false origin west of the Isles of Scilly. Cf. grid n. 6a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > surveying > [noun] > reference grid
national grid1934
1934 Jrnl. Animal Ecol. 3 129 A detailed map, on a scale of 6 in. to the mile, has been published and..bears the new national grid drawn in 100 yard squares.
1952 Proc. Prehistoric Soc. 18 3 The National Grid position on the 6-inch map Sheet XLIV, N.W. is 832642.
1971 Nature 5 Feb. 375/1 Before 1900 forty-four species [of plants]..occurred in only one or two 10 km squares of the national grid.
1997 Jrnl. Appl. Ecol. 34 1139/1 The study area comprised 8100 km2 of south-eastern England,..a 90 × 90 km square with corners of the National Grid 650 000, 560 000 and 350 000.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1930