GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 3 definitions

1.       
   Accumulation , n. [L. accumulatio; cf. F. accumulation.]
   The act of accumulating, the state of being accumulated, or that which is accumulated; as, an accumulation of earth, of sand, of evils, of wealth, of honors.
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   (Law) The concurrence of several titles to the same proof.
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   Accumulation of energy or power, the storing of energy by means of weights lifted or masses put in motion; electricity stored. -- An accumulation of degrees (Eng. Univ.), the taking of several together, or at smaller intervals than usual or than is allowed by the rules.
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2.       
   Power , n. (Zool.) Same as Poor, the fish.
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3.       
   Power, n. [OE. pouer, poer, OF. poeir, pooir, F. pouvoir, n. & v., fr. LL. potere, for L. posse, potesse, to be able, to have power. See Possible, Potent, and cf. Posse comitatus.]
   Ability to act, regarded as latent or inherent; the faculty of doing or performing something; capacity for action or performance; capability of producing an effect, whether physical or moral: potency; might; as, a man of great power; the power of capillary attraction; money gives power. “One next himself in power, and next in crime.” 
   Milton.
   
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   Ability, regarded as put forth or exerted; strength, force, or energy in action; as, the power of steam in moving an engine; the power of truth, or of argument, in producing conviction; the power of enthusiasm. “The power of fancy.” 
   Shak.
   
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   Capacity of undergoing or suffering; fitness to be acted upon; susceptibility; -- called also passive power; as, great power of endurance.
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   Power, then, is active and passive; faculty is active power or capacity; capacity is passive power.
   Sir W. Hamilton.
   
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   The exercise of a faculty; the employment of strength; the exercise of any kind of control; influence; dominion; sway; command; government.
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   Power is no blessing in itself but when it is employed to protect the innocent.
   Swift.
   
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   The agent exercising an ability to act; an individual invested with authority; an institution, or government, which exercises control; as, the great powers of Europe; hence, often, a superhuman agent; a spirit; a divinity. “The powers of darkness.” 
   Milton.
   
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   And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
   Matt. xxiv. 29.
   
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   A military or naval force; an army or navy; a great host.
   Spenser.
   
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   Never such a power . . . 
   Was levied in the body of a land.
   Shak.
   
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   A large quantity; a great number; as, a power o good things. [Colloq.]
   Richardson.
   
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   (Mech.) (a) The rate at which mechanical energy is exerted or mechanical work performed, as by an engine or other machine, or an animal, working continuously; as, an engine of twenty horse power.
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   ☞ The English unit of power used most commonly is the horse power. See Horse power.
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   (b) A mechanical agent; that from which useful mechanical energy is derived; as, water power; steam power; hand power, etc. (c) Applied force; force producing motion or pressure; as, the power applied at one and of a lever to lift a weight at the other end.
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   ☞ This use in mechanics, of power as a synonym for force, is improper and is becoming obsolete.
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   (d) A machine acted upon by an animal, and serving as a motor to drive other machinery; as, a dog power.
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   ☞ Power is used adjectively, denoting, driven, or adapted to be driven, by machinery, and not actuated directly by the hand or foot; as, a power lathe; a power loom; a power press.
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   (Math.) The product arising from the multiplication of a number into itself; as, a square is the second power, and a cube is third power, of a number.
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   (Metaph.) Mental or moral ability to act; one of the faculties which are possessed by the mind or soul; as, the power of thinking, reasoning, judging, willing, fearing, hoping, etc.
   I. Watts.
   
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   The guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of my powers, drove the grossness . . . into a received belief.
   Shak.
   
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   (Optics) The degree to which a lens, mirror, or any optical instrument, magnifies; in the telescope, and usually in the microscope, the number of times it multiplies, or augments, the apparent diameter of an object; sometimes, in microscopes, the number of times it multiplies the apparent surface.
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   (Law) An authority enabling a person to dispose of an interest vested either in himself or in another person; ownership by appointment.
   Wharton.
   
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   Hence, vested authority to act in a given case; as, the business was referred to a committee with power.
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   ☞ Power may be predicated of inanimate agents, like the winds and waves, electricity and magnetism, gravitation, etc., or of animal and intelligent beings; and when predicated of these beings, it may indicate physical, mental, or moral ability or capacity.
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   Mechanical powers. See under Mechanical. -- Power loom, or Power press. See Def. 8 (d), note. -- Power of attorney. See under Attorney. -- Power of a point (relative to a given curve) (Geom.), the result of substituting the coordinates of any point in that expression which being put equal to zero forms the equation of the curve; as, x2 + y2 - 100 is the power of the point x, y, relative to the circle x2 + y2 - 100 = 0.
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