electrify
English
Etymology
From electric + -fy.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɪˈlɛktɹɪfaɪ/
Audio (RP) (file)
Verb
electrify (third-person singular simple present electrifies, present participle electrifying, simple past and past participle electrified)
- (transitive) To supply electricity to; to charge with electricity.
- to electrify a cable
- (transitive) To cause electricity to pass through; to affect by electricity; to give an electric shock to.
- to electrify a limb, or the body
- (transitive) To adapt (a home, farm, village, city, industry, railroad) for electric power.
- 2020 May 20, Richard Clinnick, “Network News: Electrification key to decarbonisation”, in Rail, page 16:
- Baroness Randerson had asked if, following the publication of the Government's Decarbonising transport: setting the challenge report in March, there had been any consideration to electrify more rail lines - and if so, to prioritise routes between Cardiff and Swansea, in the East Midlands and in the Lake District. All had been planned for electrification before subsequently being cancelled.
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- (transitive) To strongly excite, especially by something delightful or inspiring; to thrill.
- Her performance in the play electrified the audience.
- 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II Chapter I
- If the sovereign were now to immure a subject in defiance of the writ of habeas corpus […] the whole nation would be instantly electrified by the news.
- 1876, George Eliot, Daniel Deronda:
- Try whether she could electrify Mr. Grandcourt by mentioning it to him at table.
- 2014 October 25, Jeff Gordinier, “In search of the perfect taco”, in T: The New York Times Style Magazine (international edition), page 100:
- The trailblazing Oaxacan chef Alejandro Ruiz […] has spiked this black-bean sauce with a hidden depth charge of flavor: patches of foliage from a local avocado tree. The leaves electrify the sauce with an unexpected thrum of black licorice.
- (intransitive) To make electric.
Derived terms
- electrification
Related terms
- electric
- electricity
Translations
to communicate electricity to
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to cause electricity to pass through
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to adapt for electric power
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to excite suddenly and violently
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to become electric
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Further reading
- electrify in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- electrify in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- electrify at OneLook Dictionary Search