Etimology
From Middle English power, poer, from Old French poeir, from Vulgar Latin potēre, from Latin posse, whence English potent. Compare French pouvoir. Displaced the native Old English anweald.
noun
power (countable and uncountable, plural powers)
The ability to do or undergo something.
(social) The ability to coerce, influence, or control.
(physical, uncountable) Effectiveness.
(colloquial, dated) A large amount or number.
Any of the elementary forms or parts of machines: three primary (the lever, inclined plane, and pulley) and three secondary (the wheel-and-axle, wedge, and screw).
(trucking) A tractor.
(physics, mechanics) A measure of the effectiveness that a force producing a physical effect has over time. If linear, the quotient of: (force multiplied by the displacement of or in an object) ÷ time. If rotational, the quotient of: (force multiplied by the angle of displacement) ÷ time.
(mathematics)
(biblical, in the plural) In Christian angelology, an intermediate level of angels, ranked above archangels, but exact position varies by classification scheme.
Examples
On June 8, 1872, the London & North Western Railway obtained powers to quadruple its main line, and a new tunnel was bored for the up and down slow lines.
If it is spirits who have power to suffer, it seems they would also have active powers to think and will.
The proportion of female colleagues in the Hsinchu County Government and its affiliated units has reached 61%. “Women Power” is the power behind over half of the services provided by the county government.
An incident which happened about this time will set the characters of these two lads more fairly before the discerning reader than is in the power of the longest dissertation.
Thwackum, on the contrary, maintained that the human mind, since the fall, was nothing but a sink of iniquity, till purified and redeemed by grace. […] The favourite phrase of the former, was the natural beauty of virtue; that of the latter, was the divine power of grace.
“ […] That woman is stark mad, Lord Stranleigh. Her own father recognised it when he bereft her of all power in the great business he founded. […]”
Past and future obviously have no reality of their own. Just as the moon has no light of its own, but can only reflect the light of the sun, so are past and future only pale reflections of the light, power, and reality of the eternal present.
The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. [...] We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.
In the face of expanding federal power, California in particular struggled to maintain control over its Chinese population.
It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.
Synonym: powers that be
No matter how different we appear, we're all the same in our struggle against the powers of evil and darkness. I hope that this day will always be a day of joy in which we can reconfirm our dedication and our courage and more than anything else, our love for one another. This is the promise of the Tree of Life.
Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.
The threatning words of duke Robert comming at the last to king Henries eares, caused him foorthwith to conceiue verie sore displeasure against the duke, in so much that he sent ouer a power of men into Normandie, which finding no great resistance, did much hurt in the countrie, by fetching and carieng spoiles and preies.
Then when our powers in points of ſwords are ioin’dAnd cloſde in compaſſe of the killing bullet,Though ſtraite the paſſage and the port be made,That leads to Pallace of my brothers life,Proud is his fortune if we pierce it not.
She's a power shopper; she knows all the best deals.
He needed a lot of power to hit the ball out of the stadium.
After the pylons collapsed, this town was without power for a few days.
“My father had ideas about conservation long before the United States took it up. […] You preserve water in times of flood and freshet to be used for power or for irrigation throughout the year. […]”
[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.
We need a microscope with higher power.
Don't you mind my snuffling a little—becuz we're in a power of trouble.
the mechanical powers
The set I'm making right now needs a power on it, but we don't have any tractors left in the yard.
Related words
synonyms
aptitude
arm
authority
capability
capacity
clout
command
competence
competency
control
dominion
energy
force
grip
hold
influence
main
mastery
might
muscle
potency
pull
sinew
strength
sway
vigor
wald
weight
antonyms
impotence
weakness
hyponyms
atomic power
black power
candlepower
colonial power
empower
firepower
flower power
gray power
grey power
hard power
horsepower
hyperpower
institutional power
moral power
nuclear power
omnipower
optical power
personal power
political power
poor power
running powers
sea power
social power
soft power
solar power
superpower
white power
wind power
related terms
possible
potent
verb
power (third-person singular simple present powers, present participle powering, simple past and past participle powered)
(transitive) To provide power for (a mechanical or electronic device).
(transitive) To hit or kick something forcefully.
To enable or provide the impetus for.
Examples
This CD player is powered by batteries.
United keeper Edwin van der Sar was the unlikely provider as his clearance found Rooney, who had got ahead of last defender Richard Dunne, and the forward brilliantly controlled a ball coming from over his shoulder before powering a shot past Brad Friedel.
Abdul Sattar Edhi came to Karachi as a poor man from an Indian village in 1947. Starting with a small pharmacy tent, his work rapidly expanded, powered by donations from ordinary citizens.
adjective
power (comparative more power, superlative most power)
(Singapore, colloquial) Impressive.
Examples
Check out the POWER Mee Rebus & Lontong in this newly established Nasi Padang coffee shop at Market Street Carpark.
Their performance is very the Power!
His hokkien is damn power lah!
Eh his soccer skills damn power one.