megawatt

American

[meg-uh-wot] / ˈmɛg əˌwɒt /

noun

Electricity.

a unit of power, equal to one million watts. MW

megawatt British

/ ˈmɛɡəˌwɒt /

noun

MW. one million watts

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

megawatt Cultural

A unit of power: one million watts. A typical large electrical generating plant can produce a thousand megawatts of electricity.

Etymology

Origin of megawatt

First recorded in 1895–1900; mega- + watt

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.

Researchers are aiming for levels between 500 kilowatts and 1 megawatt per thruster in the coming years.

From Science Daily • May 6, 2026

Every megawatt of new data-center capacity flows through the kind of equipment Eaton sells.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 30, 2026

The water department has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement for the solar plant at a rate of $1 per megawatt hour.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 20, 2026

"An electric car contains 80 kg of copper, compared with 20 kg in a conventional one," he notes, while "a wind turbine contains between four and ten tons of copper per megawatt."

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

And then that megawatt smile that belonged on cereal boxes across the nation reappeared.

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023