horsepower
About Our Definitions: All forms of a word (noun, verb, etc.) are now displayed on one page.

11 ENTRIES FOUND:

horse·pow·er

noun \ˈhrs-ˌpa(-ə)r\

Definition of HORSEPOWER

1
: the power that a horse exerts in pulling
2
: a unit of power equal in the United States to 746 watts and nearly equivalent to the English gravitational unit of the same name that equals 550 foot-pounds of work per second
3
: effective power <intellectual horsepower> <computing horsepower>

Examples of HORSEPOWER

  1. an engine with 200 horsepower
  2. <that architectural firm probably doesn't have the creative horsepower to produce a truly innovative design>

First Known Use of HORSEPOWER

1806

horsepower

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Common unit of power, the rate at which work is done. In the English system, one horsepower equals 33,000 foot-pounds of work per minute—that is, the power necessary to lift a total of 33,000 lbs a distance of one foot in one minute. This value was adopted by James Watt in the late 18th century after experiments with strong dray horses and is actually about 50% more than the rate an average horse can sustain for a working day. The electrical equivalent of one horsepower is 746 watts in the International System of Units; the heat equivalent is 2,545 BTU per hour. The metric horsepower (see metric system) equals 4,500 kg-m per minute (32,549 foot-pounds per minute), or 0.9863 horsepower.

Browse

Next Word in the Dictionary: horsepower–hour
Previous Word in the Dictionary: horse post
All Words Near: horsepower

Seen & Heard

What made you want to look up horsepower? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Name That Thing

Take Our 10-Question Quiz

#6: Flabbergast
: to overwhelm with shock,
surprise, or wonder
See All Top 25 Entries »
Get Our Free Apps
Voice Search, Favorites,
Word of the Day, and More
Join Us on FB & Twitter
Get the Word of the Day and More