power plant

American  

Or powerplant

noun

power plants plural

1. a plant, including engines, dynamos, etc., and the building or buildings necessary for the generation of power, as electric or nuclear power.

2. the machinery for supplying power for a particular mechanical process or operation.

3. the engine, motor, or other power source along with related ignition, transmission, etc., components of a vehicle, aircraft, machine, etc.

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power plant British  

noun

1. the complex, including machinery, associated equipment, and the structure housing it, that is used in the generation of power, esp electrical power

2. the equipment supplying power to a particular machine or for a particular operation or process

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• power plants
  plural

Etymology

Origin of power plant

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

In Switzerland, the Beznau nuclear power plant took both reactors of grid on Friday because the temperature in the River Aare reached 25C, which is considered too high to cool the reactors sufficiently.

From BBC • Jun. 26, 2026

The companies are forming a power plant that would draw power from Sunrun and Tesla home battery systems and Renew smart thermostats.

From Barron's • Jun. 24, 2026

California regulations are part of what’s keeping data centers relatively small: A state rule requires any backup generator bigger than 100 megawatts to be certified as a power plant.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2026

He said that Russian Kinzhal ballistic missiles have flown within a 12-mile radius over the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant 21 times, while the same happened over the functioning Khmelnytskiy nuclear power plant 15 times.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026

This is nothing, he thinks, reminding himself of the nuclear power plant that melted down in Fukushima, Japan, after an earthquake, and the tsunami that followed.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Related Words

• power station
• station