I. ˈpau̇(ə)r, -au̇ə, esp in Southern US -au̇wə(r noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French poer, poeir, from poer, poeir, v., to be able, from (assumed) Old Latin potēre — more at potent
1.
a. : a position of ascendancy : ability to compel obedience : control , dominion
party in power
there are no … assignable boundaries to sovereign power — J.H.Hallowell
bidding for personal power and aiming to make himself absolute dictator — A.P.Ryan
knowledge meant power over nature — W.A.Kaufmann
b.
(1) : a military force or its equipment
mechanized, motorized, horse and foot units … make the enemy a formidable power — Shipley Thomas
sea-borne air power successfully challenged land-based planes — Atlantic
(2) : ability to wage war
his military power absolutely crushed — Oscar Handlin
c. chiefly dialect : a large number or quantity : multitude , abundance , heap
there had been such a power of elderberries the year before — Mary Webb
contains a power of fine Arizona scenery — Newsweek
2.
a.
(1) : capability of acting or of producing an effect
purchasing power
countries behind the Iron Curtain would make the same choice if they had the power — A.J.Toynbee
the urbane power of reason, and the persuasive influence of just consideration — Gilbert Parker
learned more about the power and the beauty of clear design by reading … sonnets — Janna Burgess
(2) : a mental or physical ability or aptitude : faculty , talent
their visual sense was far more highly developed than their power of smell — W.E.Swinton
a man who has learned the technique of scientific investigation has added a new power to his mind — Benjamin Farrington
showed his power as a playwright — A.H.Quinn
— often used in plural
a man of fine mental powers — C.B.Fisher
test your powers of observation — Richard Harrison
loath to believe that a bird so small … could possess such vocal powers — John Burroughs
(3) : performance measured without consideration of the element of speed
b. : political sway : social sway : influence , prestige
when the Democratic party regained power in the state, he was reappointed surrogate — H.W.H.Knott
a man of power with the Sioux, rescued the three captives — I.B.Richman
3.
a.
(1) : a delegated right or privilege : prerogative
invaded his powers as commander-in-chief — Isabel Whittier
not necessary for Congress to trace back every one of its powers to some single grant of authority — F.A.Ogg & P.O.Ray
(2) : delegated authority
an emissary with power to negotiate
b. : a document conferring legal authority
not until the end of September did the British representative … show satisfactory powers to treat with the thirteen United States of America — W.C.Ford
c. : legal authority
the power to bestow degrees was granted by the legislature in 1820 — American Guide Series: Maine
argument began over the nature of the proposed pact and whether it would deprive Congress of the power to declare war — L.B.Burbank
specifically : the ability to change legal relations — compare collateral power , general power of appointment , power appendant , power coupled with an interest , power in gross , power of appointment , power of attorney , special power
4. : one that has influence or authority
was a power in ecclesiastical councils — H.E.Starr
the organs of justice … are the chief power in the state — Jacques Maritain
I wish the powers that be would send me out there — Rose Macaulay
preferred in politics to be the power behind the throne — Louis Bromfield
specifically : a sovereign state
the brutal and unprovoked assault … has caused reassessment of the foreign policies of the western powers — Army-Navy-Air Force Journal
5.
a. powers plural , often capitalized
[Middle English poweris (plural), translation of Late Latin potestates, translation of Greek exousiai ]
: the sixth order in the celestial hierarchy
the powers and Thrones above — John Keble
b. : a supernatural being or occult force or the ability to control them
the sky … is the male power — J.G.Frazer
a good power called God — Time
shamanistic powers … were associated with animal or abstract beings — M.J.Herskovits
c. dialect : the religious fervor of a revivalist — used with the
almost got the power with the rest of them if for no other reason than the coffee and sandwiches — H.A.Chippendale
6.
a. : physical might or resources : strength , solidity
punishment calls for clear predominance of power — H.D.Gideonse
the dancer is … using only a portion of his power — Reginald & Gladys Laubin
a great flood moving with majesty and power — Willa Cather
the building has unusual power — American Guide Series: New York City
b. : mental or moral efficacy : vigor , intensity
laid down with great power and insight a spiritual philosophy — W.R.Inge
the power of his curiosity surprised him — Morley Callaghan
it is fine, sturdy stuff and more power to him — G.N.Shuster
c. : political or national might
present-day tendency … to speak of the state almost exclusively in terms of power — American Polit. Sci. Review
7.
a. : the number of times as indicated by an exponent a number occurs as a factor in a product ; also : the product itself
b. : the property that a mathematical aggregate has in common with all equivalent aggregates : the cardinal number that two or more aggregates share
8.
a. : an inherent property or effect
they are … powers of material substances — Grace De Laguna
adrenalin … has the power of constricting the blood vessels — Morris Fishbein
b.
(1) : the phonetic value of a letter
the power of K was usually written by C — Stanley Wemyss
(2) : the meaning of a word or phrase
9.
a. archaic : simple machine
b.
(1) : a source or means of supplying energy
muscle power
tractor power
wind power
atomic power
using horses and mules for power — C.B.Bender
especially : electricity
the shortage of power dims the streets — Wyndham Lewis
(2) : energy supplied from such sources : motive power
gathered their herds and started them on their own power in charge of cowboys — W.P.Webb
ships … arrive, dock, and depart under their own power — American Guide Series: North Carolina
c. : the time rate at which work is done or energy emitted or transferred
mechanical power of the internal combustion engine — A.C.Morrison
— usually expressed in horsepower or watts
10.
a. : magnification 1 b
b. : the reciprocal of the focal length of a lens
Synonyms:
control , authority , jurisdiction , command , dominion , sway : power indicates possession of the ability to wield coercive force, permissive authority, or substantial influence
the Governor's position is no longer one merely of dignity and honor, but of constantly increasing power — American Guide Series: Massachusetts
the trustees have power to appoint and displace professors, tutors, and other officers — John Marshall
or to make effective use of one's capacities
the Senate had been voting according to direction for so long that they seemed to have lost the power of independent decisions — Robert Graves
control emphasizes the power of direction or restraint
his nervous exasperation had grown so much that now very often he used to lose control of his voice — Joseph Conrad
he is likely to be the most hated man, because he exercises the greatest control — Abram Kardiner
all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress — U.S. Constitution
authority usually implies the granting of power for a specific purpose and within a carefully delineated frame of reference
by authority we mean the established right, within any social order, to determine policies, to pronounce judgments on relevant issues, and to settle controversies, or, more broadly, to act as leader or guide to other men — R.M.MacIver
but may also refer to influence derived from public sanction
some of the new philosophies undermine the authority of science, as some of the older systems undermined the authority of religion — W.R.Inge
jurisdiction usually applies to official power and responsibility formally determined and demarcated
in all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction — U.S. Constitution
there can be no doubt as to the jurisdiction of this court to revise the judgment of the Circuit Court, and to reverse it for any error apparent on the record — R.B.Taney
many of the smaller squires and most of the larger ones had the right to private jurisdiction; the number of nobles with the right to put a man to death upon their own estates was appreciable — Hilaire Belloc
command stresses the power to make arbitrary decisions and to compel obedience
in war the president assumes command of the army and navy
he had no command among the men, and people did what they pleased with him — R.L.Stevenson
or it may imply self-mastery or mastery over one's resources
the author's command of his material is admirable, and his presentation masterly — H.O.Taylor
dominion indicates ultimate sovereignty or supreme authority
neither the English nor colonial Governments claimed or exercised any dominion over the tribe or nation by whom it was occupied, nor claimed the right to the possession of the territory, until the tribe or nation consented to cede it — R.B.Taney
the four wars between England and France for dominion in North America — American Guide Series: North Carolina
sway , somewhat rhetorical in effect, indicates a sweeping extent over which dominant power or dominion is exercised
it was as a successful warlord that the dictator Julius Caesar, after the defeat of Pompey at Pharsalia in 48 B.C., had brought the whole Roman world under the sway of one supreme military commander — P.N.Ure
in 1673 the Dutch recaptured the Colony, but in 1674 it was restored by treaty to the English, who promptly resumed their sway — American Guide Series: New York
no government, whatever its nature or form, can hold absolute sway in the multitudinous ramifications of human activity — Encyc. Americana
Synonyms:
power , force , energy , strength , might , puissance , arm can signify the ability to exert effort for a purpose. power signifies ability, latent, exerted, physical, mental or spiritual, to act, be acted upon, effect or be effected, sometimes designating the thing having this ability
power, which is any and every capacity to produce results — American Polit. Sci. Review
the immense property value of the slaves and the power of the owners to control all the political agencies of the government — W.C.Ford
the power of the bridge to withstand great weights
the precious power to lift the minds and hearts of children — R.H.Wittcoff
the power to understand and be affected by music
who was a power in marine and financial circles in New York — H.W.H.Knott
force stresses the actual exercise of power, often applying to something which exercises its power efficaciously
to charge against a door with enough force to break it down
a society crowded by almost every other force toward like-mindedness and conformity — Oscar Handlin
a powerful political force
a police force
energy contrasts with latent power, denoting the power expended or capable of being transformed into work; in common use it implies stored-up power; in the physical sciences it is conceived of as one of two possible aspects of matter (the other being mass) and signifying, roughly, the capacity for work, realized or potential
how the immense energy of volcanoes might be harnessed for man's use — Howel Williams
measuring the physical output may furnish some rough estimate of the energy given out by the worker — J.A.Hobson
energy for sudden action, rapidity of decision, mystical fusion of reason and passion, which characterizes men created to act — William Troy
the electrical energy expended in the circuit is derived from the chemical energy of the freshly compounded battery — K.K.Darrow
energy and mass are two aspects of the same entity, and when the energy departs the corresponding amount of mass also departs — A.S.Eddington
strength applies to the power residing in a thing as a result of qualities or properties (as health or soundness in bodily condition, or numbers or great equipment in military organization) that enable it to exert force or manifest great energy as in resistance, attack, or endurance
a man of great strength
a wall of great strength
a political party of great strength
a military force of great strength
might , somewhat literary, suggests great or superhuman power or force
sportsmen have risen in their articulate might and blasted the proposals out of legislative halls — American Guide Series: Michigan
the most savage winter in the memory of the Colonies hurled its icy might against the Americans at Valley Forge — F.V.W.Mason
although in certain current fixed constructions it still retains its older sense of strength or force
they reserve to themselves the right to curse the city's shortcomings with might and main — American Guide Series: Maryland
Washington remonstrated with all his might — H.E.Scudder
puissance , rhetorical and literary, is similar to might but suggests a display of power
the sapience and puissance of the American businessman in general and the American financier in particular — G.W.Johnson
their legs had lost almost all puissance; for minutes they would stand virtually in place, unable to coordinate their thighs and feet to move forward — Norman Mailer
arm in this connection is the figurative extension of arm, the human limb, and signifies operative and effective power or that in which such power resides; or it can, in related but specialized use, signify a branch of the service
the strong arm of the law
the military was a fairly good arm of the American people — T.D.Clark
until all arms of the international fighting services are up to strength — A.P.Ryan
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to give strength to : make powerful
warships … other craft, powered by 80,000,000 horsepower — Time
2.
a. : to supply with or propel by means of motive power
tankers … fetch the fuel that powers trains and trucks — Andrew Boyd
are you waiting for me to power you out the door — F.W.Booth
especially : to furnish with electricity
tiny atomic batteries designed to power the electronic brains in guided missiles — Newsweek
b. : to give impetus to
decision to revenge … his wife, is powered by a quiet, controlled anger — Atlantic
intransitive verb
: to move under power
we powered cautiously into a fog — Thomas Morgan
III. noun
: the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis in a statistical test when a particular alternative hypothesis is true
IV. intransitive verb
: to move with great speed or force
V. ˈpau̇(ə)r, -au̇ə adjective
Etymology: power (I)
1. : of, relating to, or utilizing superior strength
a power hitter in baseball
2. : influential : important
a power critic
3. : of, relating to, or being a meal at which influential people carry on discussions especially about business or politics
a power restaurant
a power lunch
4. : characteristic of the style or habits of influential people
blue power suits
a power smile