brush discharge

American  

noun

Electricity.

1. a type of corona discharge that takes place between two electrodes at atmospheric pressure, characterized by long, branched, luminous streamers of ionized particles.

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brush discharge British  

noun

1. a slightly luminous electrical discharge between points of high charge density when the charge density is insufficient to cause a spark or around sharp points on a highly charged conductor because of ionization of air molecules in their vicinity

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Etymology

Origin of brush discharge

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

It is well settled that atmospheric electricity can and does flow in currents with light, by experiments in relation to the brush discharge, etc.

From The Philosophy of the Weather And a Guide to Its Changes by Butler, Thomas Belden

I consider brush discharge as probably a successive effect in this way.

From Experimental Researches in Electricity, Volume 1 by Faraday, Michael

In the case of the latter, loss of power occurred in the form of "brush discharge," and Sawyer had to take great care in order to guard against this accident.

From The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 by Mawson, Douglas, Sir

Mado groaned as if in pain and Carr saw in that instant that each knob and lever on the control panel glowed with an unearthly brush discharge.

From Astounding Stories of Super-Science, November, 1930 by Various

There is, moreover, no improbability of such sounds being occasionally heard, since a somewhat similar phenomenon accompanies the brush discharge of the electric machinery, to which the aurora bears considerable resemblance.

From Meteorology or Weather Explained by M'Pherson, J. G.