voltage
Americannoun
-
voltages
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of voltage
Explanation
Voltage is a measure of electrical energy. If you've got a high-voltage personality, people may use another electrical metaphor and describe you as "a live wire." Someone calculates voltage by determining the difference in electrical charge between two points in a circuit. When you travel, you'll want to make sure you bring along adapters to plug into the various sorts of electrical outlets you'll encounter around the world. Your chargers and all your electrical gear should have dual voltage capability, so they can work on electrical currents of 100 volts to 240 volts.
Vocabulary lists containing voltage
Engineering - Introductory
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Electricity and Magnetism - Introductory
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Physical Science - Energy - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
This creates a voltage that researchers can measure.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
This mismatch has prevented conventional stainless steel from being used effectively in some high voltage electrochemical applications.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
Utility company Consolidated Edison has detected stray voltage at the site weeks after the death, a possible cause for the horse’s sudden flight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
The shorter the voltage has to travel, the faster and more efficient the charge can be, he adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
It's a 40 amp-hour Ag-Zn battery with an optimal voltage of 1.5.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
BelGaN, based in Belgium, specialized in making gallium nitride semiconductors, which allow for higher voltages compared with silicon-based chips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
Solid-state transformers convert power to different voltages, and go largely unnoticed, attached to telephone poles everywhere.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
Thanks to electroencephalography, researchers can even link slow-wave sleep to a process of synchronous changes in electrical voltages in thousands of neurons, known as up and down states.
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2024
Their experiments measured the voltages on the surface of each metallic lump - essentially the strength of the electric current.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2024
The tragedy underscored the necessity of shielding the high voltages at play in the lab.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
