galvanic
Americanadjective
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Also: voltaic. of, producing, or concerned with an electric current, esp a direct current produced chemically
a galvanic cell
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informal resembling the effect of an electric shock; convulsive, startling, or energetic
galvanic reflexes
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Relating to electricity generated by a chemical reaction. A galvanic cell is an electric cell, such as found in household and car batteries, that makes use of galvanic reactions to act as a power source.
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See Note at battery
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of galvanic
1790–1800; < French galvanique, named after Luigi Galvani; see -ic
Explanation
You can use the adjective galvanic to describe electricity that's formed from a chemical reaction. A galvanic current, or one that develops from two or more substances reacting chemically to each other, is often considered to be harmful, causing corrosion of metal in some cases. A deliberate galvanic reaction happens in a battery, however, as its electricity is produced from a chemical reaction. The word galvanic comes from the name of the Italian scientist who first identified this kind of electricity, Luigi Galvani.
Vocabulary lists containing galvanic
"The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe
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The Devil in the White City
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David Copperfield
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Not a single five-minute section is other than galvanic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
We use experts in behavioral science, facial coding, galvanic skin response, and other subjects and research methods as well.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2024
"Analysis of the domestic hot water pipework has indicated erosion corrosion and galvanic corrosion to be the cause, pseudomonas is not a factor."
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2024
In some of his best movies — notably “Vincere,” his 2009 drama about Mussolini’s rise to power — Bellocchio dramatizes history with galvanic, operatic force.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2023
And then she spoke the most powerful and exhausting, the bravest, most exasperating and galvanic sentence in the human language.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
