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capacitor
[ kuh-pas-i-ter ]
noun
, Electricity.
- a device for accumulating and holding a charge of electricity, consisting of two equally charged conducting surfaces having opposite signs and separated by a dielectric.
capacitor
/ kəˈpæsɪtə /
noun
- a device for accumulating electric charge, usually consisting of two conducting surfaces separated by a dielectric Former namecondenser
capacitor
/ kə-păs′ĭ-tər /
- An electrical device consisting of two conducting plates separated by an electrical insulator (the dielectric ), designed to hold an electric charge. Charge builds up when a voltage is applied across the plates, creating an electric field between them. Current can flow through a capacitor only as the voltage across it is changing, not when it is constant. Capacitors are used in power supplies, amplifiers, signal processors, oscillators, and logic gates.
- Compare induction coil
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Word History and Origins
Origin of capacitor1
First recorded in 1925–30; capacit(y) + -or 2
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Example Sentences
To return to his present day, his flux capacitor needed a providential shaft of lightning.
From The Daily Beast
"Nice job these babies got," commented Gaines as he checked the capacitor circuits.
From Project Gutenberg
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