electricity

Noun

electricity (usually uncountable, plural electricities)

1. (usually) Originally, a property of amber and certain other nonconducting substances to attract lightweight material when rubbed, or the cause of this property; now understood to be a phenomenon caused by the distribution and movement of charged subatomic particles and their interaction with the electromagnetic field.
   • Again, the concretion of Ice will not endure a dry attrition without liquation ; for if it be rubbed long with a cloth, it melteth. But Cryſtal will calefie unto electricity ; that is, a power to attract ſtraws or light bodies, and convert the needle freely placed.1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, 4th edition, page 56
   • For, reſtoring the equilibrium in the bottle does not at all affect the Electricity in the man thro’ whom the fire paſſes ; that Electricity is neither increaſed nor diminiſhed.1747 July 28, Benjamin Franklin, letter to Peter Collinson, collected in New Experiments and Observations on Electricity, part I, 3rd edition, London: D. Henry and R. Cape, published 1760, page 8
2. (usually) The study of electrical phenomena; the branch of science dealing with such phenomena.
   • He took up the job of studying electricity in college.
3. (usually) A feeling of excitement; a thrill.
   • Opening night for the new production had an electricity unlike other openings.
   • The electricity was crackling around Celtic Park even before a ball had been kicked, the home crowd unleashing noise and colour and every ounce of passion in their bodies on the visitors.2016 September 28, Tom English, “Celtic 3–3 Manchester City”, in BBC Sport
4. (usually) Electrical power, as supplied by power stations or generators.
   • This heater draws more than a thousand watts of electricity.
   • Householders could one day be producing as much electricity as all the country's nuclear power stations combined, thanks to the revolutionary application of a device developed in the early 19th century.2000, James Meek, Home-made answer to generating electricity harks back to the past The Guardian
5. (usually) Electrical energy, as supplied by power stations or generators.
   • Last year this portion of the grid consumed more than a thousand megawatt-hours of electricity.
   • New facilities consume more electricity than ever. A rack of servers stuffed with AI chips requires about ten times more power than a non-AI version a few years ago. A study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that in 2023 America's data centres used 176 terawatt-hours (TWh) of...2025 July 28, Editorial staff, “How big tech plans to feed AI's voracious appetite for power. As data centres get more energy-hungry, the hyperscalers get more creative”, in The Economist, archived...
6. (attributive, often, usually) The supply of electricity, as a utility.
   • Electricity bosses set to make record profits.