power plant
Americannoun
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a plant, including engines, dynamos, etc., and the building or buildings necessary for the generation of power, as electric or nuclear power.
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the machinery for supplying power for a particular mechanical process or operation.
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the engine, motor, or other power source along with related ignition, transmission, etc., components of a vehicle, aircraft, machine, etc.
noun
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the complex, including machinery, associated equipment, and the structure housing it, that is used in the generation of power, esp electrical power
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the equipment supplying power to a particular machine or for a particular operation or process
Etymology
Origin of power plant
First recorded in 1885–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"A lot of energy systems, power plants have rubber parts. Everybody's had a garden hose that started leaking because a rubber gasket failed. Now imagine that happening in a power plant or a chemical plant."
From Science Daily • May 13, 2026
The company is also advancing its push to build AI data centres, announcing plans in March for a major new gas-fired power plant in the US state of Ohio to supply them with energy.
From Barron's • May 13, 2026
Richard Shaffer, asset manager at Scrubgrass Reclamation Company, emailed asking for an exemption covering a western Pennsylvania power plant that burns coal waste.
From Salon • May 10, 2026
The power plant was also upgraded in 2025, financed by Keppel Infrastructure Trust’s sponsor Keppel Ltd., the analysts note.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
His class had had a field trip once to the local power plant, and they’d walked through a room as big as the school playground, full of cabinets like this.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
