Definitions for power
ˈpaʊ ərpow·er

Princeton's WordNet(3.43 / 7 votes)Rate this definition:

1. power, powerfulness(noun)

   possession of controlling influence

   "the deterrent power of nuclear weapons"; "the power of his love saved her"; "his powerfulness was concealed by a gentle facade"

2. power(noun)

   (physics) the rate of doing work; measured in watts (= joules/second)

3. ability, power(noun)

   possession of the qualities (especially mental qualities) required to do something or get something done

   "danger heightened his powers of discrimination"

4. office, power(noun)

   (of a government or government official) holding an office means being in power

   "being in office already gives a candidate a great advantage"; "during his first year in office"; "during his first year in power"; "the power of the president"

5. power, force(noun)

   one possessing or exercising power or influence or authority

   "the mysterious presence of an evil power"; "may the force be with you"; "the forces of evil"

6. exponent, power, index(noun)

   a mathematical notation indicating the number of times a quantity is multiplied by itself

7. might, mightiness, power(noun)

   physical strength

8. world power, major power, great power, power, superpower(noun)

   a state powerful enough to influence events throughout the world

9. baron, big businessman, business leader, king, magnate, mogul, power, top executive, tycoon(verb)

   a very wealthy or powerful businessman

   "an oil baron"

10. power(verb)

    supply the force or power for the functioning of

    "The gasoline powers the engines"

Wiktionary(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. power(Noun)

   physical force or strength.

   He needed a lot of power to hit the ball out of the stadium.

2. power(Noun)

   control, particularly legal or political (jurisdiction)

   2005, Columbia Law Review, April

3. power(Noun)

   electricity or a supply of electricity.

   After the pylons collapsed, this town was without power for a few days.

4. power(Noun)

   A measure of the rate of doing work or transferring energy.

5. power(Noun)

   A rate to magnify an optical image by a lens or mirror.

   We need a microscope with higher power.

6. power(Noun)

   In Christian angelology, the fourth level of angels, ranked above archangels and below principalities

7. power(Noun)

   A product of equal factors. Notation and usage: x, read as "x to the power of n" or "x to the nth power", denotes x x ... x, in which x appears n times, where n is called the exponent; the definition is extended to non-integer and complex exponents.

8. power(Noun)

   Cardinality.

9. power(Verb)

   To provide power for (a mechanical or electronic device).

   This CD player is powered by batteries.

10. power(Verb)

    To hit or kick something forcefully.

11. power(Noun)

    The probability that a statistical test will reject the null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true.

12. Power(Noun)

    A button of a computer, a video game console, or similar device, that when pressed, causes the device to be either shut down or powered up.

Origin: From power.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Power(noun)

   same as Poor, the fish

2. Power(noun)

   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

3. Power(noun)

   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

4. Power(noun)

   capacity of undergoing or suffering; fitness to be acted upon; susceptibility; -- called also passive power; as, great power of endurance

5. Power(noun)

   the exercise of a faculty; the employment of strength; the exercise of any kind of control; influence; dominion; sway; command; government

6. Power(noun)

   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

7. Power(noun)

   a military or naval force; an army or navy; a great host

8. Power(noun)

   a large quantity; a great number; as, a power o/ good things

9. Power(noun)

   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

10. Power(noun)

    a mechanical agent; that from which useful mechanical energy is derived; as, water power; steam power; hand power, etc

11. Power(noun)

    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

12. Power(noun)

    a machine acted upon by an animal, and serving as a motor to drive other machinery; as, a dog power

13. Power(noun)

    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

14. Power(noun)

    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

15. Power(noun)

    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

16. Power(noun)

    an authority enabling a person to dispose of an interest vested either in himself or in another person; ownership by appointment

17. Power(noun)

    hence, vested authority to act in a given case; as, the business was referred to a committee with power

Origin: [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.]

Freebase(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Power

   In physics, power is the rate at which energy is transferred, used, or transformed. The unit of power is the joule per second, known as the watt. For example, the rate at which a light bulb transforms electrical energy into heat and light is measured in watts—the more wattage, the more power, or equivalently the more electrical energy is used per unit time. Energy transfer can be used to do work, so power is also the rate at which this work is performed. The same amount of work is done when carrying a load up a flight of stairs whether the person carrying it walks or runs, but more power is expended during the running because the work is done in a shorter amount of time. The output power of an electric motor is the product of the torque the motor generates and the angular velocity of its output shaft. The power expended to move a vehicle is the product of the traction force of the wheels and the velocity of the vehicle. The integral of power over time defines the work done. Because this integral depends on the trajectory of the point of application of the force and torque, this calculation of work is said to be path dependent.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Power

   pow′ėr, n. that in a person or a thing which enables them to act on other persons or things: strength: energy: faculty of the mind: any agency: moving force of anything: right to command: rule: authority: influence: ability: capacity of suffering: a ruler: a divinity: the result of the continued multiplication of a quantity by itself any given number of times: (optics) magnifying strength: (obs.) a great many.—adjs. Pow′ered, having power; Pow′erful, having great power: mighty: intense: forcible: efficacious.—adv. Pow′erfully.—ns. Pow′erfulness; Pow′er-house, a house where mechanical power (esp. electric) is generated.—adj. Pow′erless, without power: weak: impotent.—adv. Pow′erlessly.—ns. Pow′erlessness; Pow′er-loom, a loom worked by some mechanical power, as water, steam, &c.—Power of attorney (see Attorney); Power of sale, a clause in securities and wills empowering property referred to to be sold on certain conditions; Powers, or Great Powers (see Great).—Absolute power, power subject to no control by law; Civil power, power of governing a state; Mechanical powers (see Mechanical). [O. Fr. poer (Fr. pouvoir)—Low L. pot-ĕre, to be able.]

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'power' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #257

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'power' in Written Corpus Frequency: #652

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'power' in Nouns Frequency: #47

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of power in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of power in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of power in a Sentence

1. Ed Murphy:

   Knowledge is power

2. Francis Bacon:

   Knowledge is power.

3. Booker T. Washington:

   Character is power.

4. David Brin, on power and corruption:

   corruption and power

5. Ezzat Shabandar:

   He had power and wealth.

Images & Illustrations of power

Popularity rank by frequency of use