capacitor

[ kuh-pas-i-ter ]

nounElectricity.
  1. 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.

Origin of capacitor

1
First recorded in 1925–30; capacit(y) + -or2

Words Nearby capacitor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use capacitor in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for capacitor

capacitor

/ (kəˈpæsɪtə) /


noun
  1. a device for accumulating electric charge, usually consisting of two conducting surfaces separated by a dielectric: Former name: condenser

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for capacitor

capacitor

[ kə-păsĭ-tər ]


  1. 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 resistor.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for capacitor

capacitor

[ (kuh-pas-i-tuhr) ]


A device used in electrical circuits. The capacitor stores an electrical charge for short periods of time, and then returns it to the circuit.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.