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• electric current
  electric current

  noun

  the time rate of flow of electric charge, in the direction that a positive moving charge would take and having magnitude equal to the quantity of charge per unit time: measured in amperes.
• current, electric
  current, electric

  The flow of electrical charge, usually electrons. (See Benjamin Franklin.)

electric current

American  

noun

Electricity.

1. the time rate of flow of electric charge, in the direction that a positive moving charge would take and having magnitude equal to the quantity of charge per unit time: measured in amperes.

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electric current British  

noun

1. another name for current

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current, electric ¹ Cultural  

1. The flow of electrical charge, usually electrons. (See Benjamin Franklin.)

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current, electric ² Cultural  

1. The flow of large numbers of electrons through a conductor. (See alternating current, conduction, and direct current.)

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Etymology

Origin of electric current

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

electric current current, electric

In 1879, Edwin Hall discovered that when a magnetic field is applied perpendicular to a material carrying an electric current, the moving charges are pushed to one side.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026

Superconductors allow electric current to flow without losing energy, but only when cooled to extremely low temperatures where quantum effects emerge.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026

Yet when exposed to an electric current, it appeared to behave more like a ferromagnet.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026

Smelters dissolve refined bauxite, or alumina, in a solution and jolt it with an electric current to chemically separate the aluminum from oxygen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026

A humming noise alerts me to the fact that the electric current has been switched on.

From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass

Ford this week is also idling its Dearborn, Mich., plant that produces its current electric pickup, the F-150 Lightning, because of the aluminum issue, Reuters reported last week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2025

Will it meet or beat your current electric bill?

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2024

All-solid-state batteries could lead to cars that are safer than current electric or internal combustion models, but creating a strategy to bypass the drawbacks was laborious, Wang said.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2023

That’s a nearly tenfold increase over current electric vehicle sales.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2023

Electric Motor.—The direct current electric motor depends for its action on the principle that likes repel, and unlikes attract.

From Practical Mechanics for Boys by James Slough Zerbe