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 was singular that the "brush discharge" was sometimes most copious when the atmosphere was filled with very fine drift, and not necessarily during dense drift.

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

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

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

A faintly luminous discharge that takes place from the positive pointed terminal of an induction coil, or other high potential apparatus; is termed a brush discharge.

From The Radio Amateur's Hand Book by Collins, A. Frederick (Archie Frederick)

While taking the observations at midnight, he noticed St. Elmo's fire, a "brush discharge" of electricity, on the points of the nephoscope.

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