rheostat

American

[ree-uh-stat] / ˈri əˌstæt /

noun

Electricity.

an adjustable resistor so constructed that its resistance may be changed without opening the circuit in which it is connected, thereby controlling the current in the circuit.

rheostat British

/ ˈriːəˌstæt /

noun

a variable resistance, usually consisting of a coil of wire with a terminal at one end and a sliding contact that moves along the coil to tap off the current

"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

rheostat Scientific

/ rē′ə-stăt′ /

See under resistor

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

rheostatic

adjective

Etymology

Origin of rheostat

First recorded in 1843; rheo- + -stat

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.

In a screen to identify key regulators of this process, retinoic acid, the biologically active form of Vitamin A, surfaced as a surprising rheostat.

From Science Daily • Mar. 7, 2024

Sorry, Vlad, but the rheostat didn’t work this time.

From Washington Post • Nov. 29, 2018

No candidate spans the rheostat more than Gingrich, who can go from sweet to sour in seconds.

From Slate • Nov. 15, 2011

To bring out a star, the operator pushes two black buttons simultaneously and turns a rheostat marked STAR.

From Time Magazine Archive

“It’s more of a rheostat than a switch, really.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023