pentode

[ pen-tohd ]

/ ˈpɛn toʊd /

Save This Word!

noun Electronics.

a vacuum tube having five electrodes, usually a plate, three grids, and a cathode, within the same envelope.

COMPARE MEANINGS

Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of pentode

1915–20; pent- + -ode²

Words nearby pentode

pentito, Pentland Firth, pentlandite, pentobarbital, pentobarbital sodium, pentode, pentolite, pentomic, pentosan, pentose, pentose nucleic acid

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

How to use pentode in a sentence

Remember how he went to all the trouble of building a pentode vacuum tube for a job that could have been done by transistors.
Anything You Can Do|Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for pentode

pentode

/ (ˈpɛntəʊd) /

noun

an electronic valve having five electrodes: a cathode, anode, and three grids

(modifier) (of a transistor) having three terminals at the base or gate

Word Origin for pentode

C20: from penta- + Greek hodos way

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 pentode

pentode

[ pĕn′tōd′ ]

Any electron tube with the basic structure and functionality of a triode, but including two extra electrodes, a screen and a suppressor grid. The screen helps the tube respond well at high frequencies (as in a tetrode), while a negatively charged suppressor grid adjacent to the plate prevents secondary emission of electrons from the plate, increasing the efficiency of the tube. See more at suppressor.