open circuit


nounElectricity.
  1. a discontinuous circuit through which no current can flow.

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Origin of open circuit

1
First recorded in 1820–30

Other words from open circuit

  • open-circuit, adjective

Words Nearby open circuit

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use open circuit in a sentence

  • It still meets safety standards for protection against impact or compression, as well as electrical hazard protection against open circuits up to 600 volts in dry conditions.

  • Keep in mind the fact that the lamp will always burn on an open circuit and go out on a closed circuit.

  • Fire and burglar alarms are divided into two general types, called "open circuit" and "closed circuit," respectively.

  • The drop or relay controls a local circuit composed of an open-circuit battery and an ordinary vibrating bell.

  • The operation of a drop on a closed circuit is a little different from its operation on a normally open circuit.

  • (b) It polarizes easily yet it recovers well when left upon open circuit.

    Physics | Willis Eugene Tower

British Dictionary definitions for open circuit

open circuit

noun
  1. an incomplete electrical circuit in which no current flows: Compare closed circuit

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

Scientific definitions for open circuit

open circuit

[ ōpən ]


  1. An electric circuit in which the normal path of current has been interrupted, either by the disconnection of one part of its conducting pathway from another, or by the intervention of an electric component, such as a transistor. Compare closed circuit.

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