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 is, in fact, the equivalent in nature of the brush discharge from an electric machine.

From Falling in Love With Other Essays on More Exact Branches of Science by Allen, Grant

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

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

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

Suitable electrodes are passed backwards and forwards over the affected parts, a bluish brush discharge taking place between the patient and the electrode.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 2: Ebert to Estremadura by Various