electrode

[ih-lek-trohd]

See more synonyms for electrode on Thesaurus.com

noun Electricity.

a conductor, not necessarily metallic, through which a current enters or leaves a nonmetallic medium, as an electrolytic cell, arc generator, vacuum tube, or gaseous discharge tube.

Origin of electrode

First recorded in 1825–35; electr- + -ode²

Related formsin·ter·e·lec·trode, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for electrode

plate, wire

Examples from the Web for electrode

Historical Examples of electrode

Here Tom attached an electrode to each side of the star head.
Tom Swift and The Visitor from Planet X
Victor Appleton
The flames were arranged so as to form one electrode of a frictional machine.
Scientific American Supplement No. 299
Various
Her outflung hand had unwittingly gripped my wrist, caught the electrode there.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science April 1930
Various
In Fig. 24 W is the metal core of the electrode, and G the glass covering around it.
The Methods of Glass Blowing and of Working Silica in the Oxy-Gas Flame
W. A. Shenstone
Above the electrode is a chamber of metal or India-rubber, designed to contain ice.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 415, December 15, 1883
Various

British Dictionary definitions for electrode

electrode

noun

a conductor through which an electric current enters or leaves an electrolyte, an electric arc, or an electronic valve or tube
an element in a semiconducting device that emits, collects, or controls the movement of electrons or holes

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 electrode

1834, coined by English physicist and chemist Michael Faraday (1791-1867) from electro- + Greek hodos "way" (see cede) on same pattern as anode, cathode.

electrode in Medicine

electrode

[ĭ-lĕk′trōd′]

A solid electric conductor through which an electric current enters or leaves an electrolytic cell or other medium.
A collector or emitter of electric charge or of electric-charge carriers, as in a semiconducting device.

electrode in Science

electrode

[ĭ-lĕk′trōd′]

A conductor through which an electric current enters or leaves a substance (or a vacuum) whose electrical characteristics are being measured, used, or manipulated. Electrodes can be used to detect electrical activity such as brain waves. Terminal points in electrical components such as transistors, diodes, and batteries are electrodes.