power plant

Or power·plant

noun

1. a plant, including engines, dynamos, etc., and the building or buildings necessary for the generation of power, as electric or nuclear power.

2. the machinery for supplying power for a particular mechanical process or operation.

3. the engine, motor, or other power source along with related ignition, transmission, etc., components of a vehicle, aircraft, machine, etc.

power plant

noun

1. the complex, including machinery, associated equipment, and the structure housing it, that is used in the generation of power, esp electrical power

2. the equipment supplying power to a particular machine or for a particular operation or process

Word History and Origins

Origin of power plant¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Spain's nuclear power plants automatically stopped when the blackout hit, and the Spanish oil company Moeve said it halted operations at its oil refineries.

From BBC

Department of Energy, which also announced this week that it will open 13 million acres of federal lands for coal mining and provide $625 million to recommission or modernize coal-fired power plants.

From Los Angeles Times

In 1979, she played a reporter in “The China Syndrome,” a film about a fictional meltdown at a nuclear power plant near Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times

The EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program requires about 8,000 power plants, oil refineries and other industrial facilities to report their output each year, representing about 90% of the country’s emissions.

From Los Angeles Times

Harnessing the energy released when atoms fuse together could produce vast amounts of low carbon energy but most scientists believe commercial fusion power plants are still a long way off.

From BBC

Related Words

• power station 
• station