rheostatn.
/ˈriːəstat/, U.S. /ˈriəˌstæt/ A variable resistor used to control the electric current in a circuit; spec. (a) one comprising a wire-wound core along which a sliding contact can be moved, used for controlling large currents; (b) (in later use) one used to control the brightness of electric lighting; a dimmer; also in figurative contexts. Cf. potentiometer n. 2.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > resistance > [noun] > non-conductor, resistor
resister1760
resistance coil1843
rheostat1843
resistance box1867
resistance1878
resistor1905
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > controlling device or process > [noun] > rheostat
rheostat1843
potentiometer1888
1843 C. Wheatstone in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 133 309 As the principal use of this instrument is to adjust or regulate the circuit so that any constant degree of force may be obtained, I have called it a Rheostat.
1879 Scribner's Monthly July 450/2 ‘Balancing the quad’, as practical telegraphers call the process of adjusting the quadruplex apparatus, is an operation that calls for frequent use of a rheostat.
1896 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. I. 369 The rheostat is again brought into use to lower the current.
1934 Pop. Mech. Aug. 310/2 When the lights have been dimmed properly, by adjusting the plates of the salt-water rheostat, the voltmeter will read 60 volts.
1936 R. S. Glasgow Princ. Radio Engin. xi. 314 The direct-current excitation of the field is varied sinusoidally by manipulating the field rheostat.
1966 A. MacLean When Eight Bells Toll i. 6 The rheostat of the angled table lamp had been turned down.
1979 W. Manchester Goodbye, Darkness 128 My world brightened a little, as though there were a rheostat on the sun and someone had turned it up a notch.
1987 E. H. J. Pallett Aircraft Electr. Syst. (ed. 3) x. 153/1 A rheostat is still required to vary the voltage input to the transistor.
2004 T. Wolfe I am Charlotte Simmons xv. 312 You could see the giant's scorn and fury dim down all at once, as if it were on a rheostat.
Derivatives
ˈrheostatted adj. fitted with or controlled by a rheostat.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > controlling device or process > [adjective] > controlled by a rheostat
rheostatted1978
1892 U.S. Patent 470,158 4/1 A non-rheostatted conductor between said current-controlling mechanism and said motor.]
1978 J. Updike Coup v. 211 The symbolic riband of gold on his forehead took glitter from the rheostatted spotlight.
1991 Paris Rev. Fall 40 God, but one wearies of flipping them, of turning them, or punching or, with certain rheostatted switches, sliding them.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1843