overcurrentn.
/ˈəʊvəkʌrənt/, /ˈəʊvəkʌrn̩t/, U.S. /ˈoʊvərˌkərənt/ 1. Meteorology. A current of air flowing high in the atmosphere. Now rare or disused.
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1905 D. T. Smith in Science 5 May 706/2 They veer around till, caught in the eastward overcurrent, they are carried eastward across the Pacific.
1906 Science 24 Aug. 248/1 When a cyclone has once been inaugurated..it presents itself as a mountain of air with a tendency to rise to a great height into the prevailing over-current.
2. An electric current in excess of that which is normal, safe, or allowed for. Usually attributive, as overcurrent device, overcurrent protection, overcurrent trip, etc.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electric current > [noun] > excessive
overload1904
overcurrent1931
1931 H. W. Brown Electr. Equipm. (ed. 2) i. 19 (heading) Automatic protection against ground, short circuit, and overcurrent.
1952 H. Mauldin & W. A. Cochran Electr. for Farm iv. 73 If one unit of a number of brooders, all protected by one overcurrent device, should develop an overload or a short circuit, the resulting outage would take the heat away from the entire group of brooders.
1971 A. H. Moore & S. M. Elonka Electr. Syst. & Equipm. for Industry ii. 31 Direct-acting over~current trips are generally used on low-voltage circuit breakers.
1992 RS Components: Electronic & Electr. Products July 444/1 Featuring overcurrent, overtemperature and reverse polarity protection the fans may be reverse mounted.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1905