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electrify

[ih-lek-truh-fahy]
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verb (used with object), e·lec·tri·fied, e·lec·tri·fy·ing.
  1. to charge with or subject to electricity; apply electricity to.
  2. to supply (a region, community, etc.) with electric power: The valley wasn't electrified until 1936.
  3. to equip for the use of electric power, as a railroad.
  4. to excite greatly; thrill: to electrify an audience.
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Origin of electrify

First recorded in 1735–45; electr- + -ify
Related formse·lec·tri·fi·ca·tion, noune·lec·tri·fi·er, nounnon·e·lec·tri·fi·ca·tion, nounnon·e·lec·tri·fied, adjectivepro·e·lec·tri·fi·ca·tion, adjectivere·e·lec·tri·fi·ca·tion, nounre·e·lec·tri·fy, verb (used with object), re·e·lec·tri·fied, re·e·lec·tri·fy·ing.un·e·lec·tri·fied, adjectiveun·e·lec·tri·fy·ing, adjective

Synonyms

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4. stir, rouse, dazzle.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for electrify

Historical Examples

  • You won't be left in hiding after such a dbut; you'll electrify society!

    The Bacillus of Beauty

    Harriet Stark

  • We will dynamite them afterwards, and electrify them last of all.

    The Giant of the North

    R.M. Ballantyne

  • Now for a call upon my guest, to electrify him with my news.

    Little Nobody

    Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller

  • The speech must electrify the public, even as it was then electrifying the House.

  • How may it electrify the soul, and suspend all its functions!

    Thoughts on Man

    William Godwin

British Dictionary definitions for electrify

electrify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied (tr)
  1. to adapt or equip (a system, device, etc) for operation by electrical power
  2. to charge with or subject to electricity
  3. to startle or excite intensely; shock or thrill
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Derived Formselectrifiable, adjectiveelectrification, nounelectrifier, noun
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

Word Origin and History for electrify

v.

1745, "to charge with electricity;" see electric + -fy. Figurative sense recorded by 1752. Related: Electrified; electrifying.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper