potentiometer

[ puh-ten-shee-om-i-ter ]

/ pəˌtɛn ʃiˈɒm ɪ tər /

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noun Electricity.

a device for measuring electromotive force or potential difference by comparison with a known voltage.

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Origin of potentiometer

1880–85; potenti(al) + -o- + -meter

OTHER WORDS FROM potentiometer

po·ten·ti·o·met·ric

[puh-ten-shee-uh-me-trik], /pəˌtɛn ʃi əˈmɛ trɪk/, adjective

Words nearby potentiometer

potentiality, potentially, potential well, potentiate, potentilla, potentiometer, potentiometric, potentiometric surface, potentiometric titration, Potenza, potestas

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use potentiometer in a sentence

Meanwhile the gravity potentiometer (gravy board) was changing its reading constantly and erratically.
Unthinkable|Roger Phillips Graham
The potentiometer must never be shunted around the B battery or the latter will soon run down.
The Radio Amateur's Hand Book|A. Frederick Collins
In using either of these heterodyne receivers be sure to carefully adjust the B battery by means of the potentiometer.
The Radio Amateur's Hand Book|A. Frederick Collins
Don't connect a potentiometer across the B battery or it will speedily run down.
The Radio Amateur's Hand Book|A. Frederick Collins

Don't expect to get the best results with a gas-content detector tube without using a potentiometer.
The Radio Amateur's Hand Book|A. Frederick Collins

British Dictionary definitions for potentiometer

potentiometer

/ (pəˌtɛnʃɪˈɒmɪtə) /

noun

an instrument for determining a potential difference or electromotive force by measuring the fraction of it that balances a standard electromotive force

a device with three terminals, two of which are connected to a resistance wire and the third to a brush moving along the wire, so that a variable potential can be tapped off: used in electronic circuits, esp as a volume control

Sometimes shortened to: pot

Derived forms of potentiometer

potentiometry, noun

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 potentiometer

potentiometer

[ pə-tĕn′shē-ŏm′ĭ-tər ]

A mechanical variable resistor. See more at resistor.

An instrument for measuring an unknown voltage by comparison with a known voltage, such as that of a generator.