lightning arrester

American  

noun

1. a device for preventing damage to radio, telephonic, or other electric equipment from lightning or other high-voltage currents, using spark gaps to carry the current to the ground without passing through the device.

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lightning arrester British  

noun

1. a device that protects electrical equipment, such as an aerial, from an excessive voltage resulting from a lightning discharge or other accidental electric surge, by discharging it to earth

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Etymology

Origin of lightning arrester

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lightning arrester

A lightning arrester no bigger than a quart-size fruit jar receives the bolt, discharges it harmlessly through its coils.

From Time Magazine Archive

“Why, you thick heads,” replied Jimmy, with more force than politeness, “don’t you know that you don’t have to have a lightning arrester with a loop aerial?”

From The Radio Boys at the Sending Station Making Good in the Wireless Room by Allen Chapman

Incidentally, radio antennae should be properly grounded and have an approved lightning arrester.

From If You're Going to Live in the Country by Frank Lieberman

Proper Functions:—A fuse is not a good lightning arrester.

From Cyclopedia of Telephony & Telegraphy Vol. 1 A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc. by Kempster Miller

But talking of radio reminds me that we ought to get busy with that lightning arrester we were talking about.”

From The Radio Boys at the Sending Station Making Good in the Wireless Room by Allen Chapman