mercury arc

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noun Electricity.

a bluish-green electric arc that has passed through a mercury-vapor cathode.

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Origin of mercury arc

First recorded in 1915–20

Words nearby mercury arc

mercuro-, Mercurochrome, mercurous, mercurous chloride, mercury, mercury arc, mercury barometer, mercury chloride, mercury fulminate, mercury mass, Mercury program

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use mercury arc in a sentence

How the polling firms and the media adjust to new realities also seems to be a rather long arc.
The Gun Battle Since Newtown|Cliff Schecter|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So the plan is for Ken to draw an arc with Dale doing covers, and then Dale does an arc with Ken doing covers.
Gail Simone’s Bisexual Catman and the ‘Secret Six’|Rich Goldstein|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A Molotov cocktail tumbled in an arc overhead and erupted briefly in a blaze.
Mexican Protesters Look to Start a New Revolution|Jason McGahan|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The stream of bubbly from the popped champagne bottle creates an angelic arc over her, and lands right in the glass.
Kim Kardashian Bares Her Shiny, Bounteous Butt, Breaks the Internet|Marlow Stern|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST

According to Wynd, “Freddie Mercury once said he wanted to lead a Victorian life surrounded by exquisite clutter.”
Dodo Bones and Kylie’s Poo: Inside London’s Strangest New Museum|Liza Foreman|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In this position, the line of cavalry formed the chord of the arc described by the river, and occupied by us.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
These have canted bay windows below them, and their pediments are surmounted by figures representing Mercury and Athæne.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
But the day he planned to start was very cold—the mercury stood twenty-seven below zero.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
Bang went the fragile bulb, as it splintered into a thousand atoms, and the mercury shot in sparkling globules over the table.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
The sequestered spot, a seat beneath a plane tree, with a lonesome arc-lamp shining full upon it, was occupied.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke

British Dictionary definitions for mercury arc

mercury arc

noun

an electric discharge through ionized mercury vapour, producing a brilliant bluish-green light containing ultraviolet radiation
(as modifier)a mercury-arc rectifier See also ignitron

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