horsepower

[ hawrs-pou-er ]

noun

1. a foot-pound-second unit of power, pow, power, equivalent to 550 foot-pounds per second, or 745.7 watts.
2. Informal. the capacity to achieve or produce; strength or talent:

   The university's history faculty is noted for its intellectual horsepower.

horsepower

/ ˈhɔːsˌpaʊə /

noun

1. an fps unit of power, equal to 550 foot-pounds per second (equivalent to 745.7 watts)
2. a US standard unit of power, equal to 746 watts

horsepower

/ hôrs′pou′ər /

1. A unit that is used to measure the power of engines and motors. One unit of horsepower is equal to the power needed to lift 550 pounds one foot in one second. This unit has been widely replaced by the watt in scientific usage; one horsepower is equal to 745.7 watts.

horsepower

1. A unit of power equal to about 746 watts .

Notes

The horsepower is used to measure the power of engines.

This term was coined by James Watt , who invented a new type of steam engine in the eighteenth century. Watt found that the horse could do a certain amount of work per second; when he sold his steam engines, this measurement allowed him to estimate the worth of an engine in terms of the number of horses it would replace. Therefore, a six-horsepower engine was capable of replacing six horses.

Word History and Origins

Origin of horsepower¹

First recorded in 1800–10; horse + power

Example Sentences

Beyond connectivity, this model’s quiet belt drive offers one- and-a-quarter horsepower, making it powerful enough for larger doors.

From Popular-Science

Another even more specific way of defining them is as vehicles whose horsepower is 500 and up that cost around $250,000 or more.

From Popular-Science

Size, weight, horsepower, and fuel source are just a few of the things to look for when shopping for a zero-turn mower.

From Popular-Science

At times, Chrome was apparently limited to the Cortex-A55 cores only, ignoring most of the phone's computing horsepower, which is present in the bigger A78 and X1 cores.

From Ars Technica

There was a built-in audience with the kind of gearheads who love to pore over horsepower, steering and any other little cog that makes a car go vroom.

From Washington Post

In the race to the future, horsepower was losing to gas power, and the city was changing.

From The Daily Beast

But the real leverage between the U.S. and China comes down to economic horsepower.

From The Daily Beast

They used a 30 horsepower refrigeration unit to keep the wall frozen and spent about $15 a day to power it.

From The Daily Beast

It cruises at 43 miles per hour and has about a 10 horsepower engine, no larger than the Wright brothers' original vessel.

From The Daily Beast

Unveiled at the EICMA motor show in Milan, the 1199 Panigale is the new king of the motorcycle horsepower race.

From The Daily Beast

The horsepower figures do not fully represent the extent of actual commercial control.

From Project Gutenberg

If you had five-horsepower work to perform, how foolish it would be to install a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound engine!

From Project Gutenberg

Zeppelin's first airship had two cars, with a motor in each, giving about 30 horsepower.

From Project Gutenberg

Practice has shown that the amount of heating surface practically required by a boiler is 12 to 15 square feet per horsepower.

From Project Gutenberg

In selecting an engine, the higher the horsepower for the given dimensions, the more economical of both fuel and water.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dynamism
• electricity
• heat
• potential
• service
• strength