power plant

American  

Or powerplant

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 British  

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

---

Etymology

Origin of power plant

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Take for instance the San Bernardino Santa Fe smokestack, a towering 189-foot-tall structure from the 1920s that fueled the nearby railway power plant until 1994.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

Unlike Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility or the future Arak heavy water nuclear power plant, the Bushehr facility is not considered a proliferation risk.

From Barron's • Apr. 4, 2026

Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran's only operational civilian nuclear facility, was built by Russia and officially handed over in September 2013, after decades of twists, turns and delays linked to Iran's turbulent history.

From Barron's • Apr. 4, 2026

When his engineers suggested they could skip ahead to a power plant reactor, Binderbauer suddenly found he needed to raise a few billion dollars.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

He’s bringing water to the workers holed up behind the locked fence of Huntington Beach power plant.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Related Words

• power station
• station