volt
Pluralvolts
- 1The SI derived unit of electrical potential and electromotive force, equal to the potential difference across a conductor that carries one ampere while dissipating one watt of power.
The sensor sends an alert whenever the signal climbs past one volt.
Household outlets in the US supply roughly one hundred twenty volts.
Note
A unit that carries a person's name: Alessandro Volta, the Italian physicist. The unit is written lowercase, while its symbol is a capital V. In technical writing it follows a number and often takes a current label, as in 630 volts d.c. Engineers writing in the Journal of the Franklin Institute in 1900 were still debating whether it should be an absolute unit or merely a practical one.
- 2A yellowish-green color resembling lime, frequently used in Nike products.
He picked the volt colorway because it stood out on the track.
Against the gray pavement, the bright volt was impossible to miss.
- 3A circular movement in which a horse travels around on a small circle.
The trainer asked for a volt as they reached the corner of the school.
A well-ridden volt keeps the horse balanced through the tight curve.
Note
A riding term borrowed from French volte. It is unrelated to the electrical unit named for Volta and shares only its spelling. It names the small, tight circle a horse is ridden through, and it now sounds archaic. In current riding talk it reads as period language, so it suits older horsemanship or historical settings better than modern instruction.
Less common meaning
- 4A sudden movement made to avoid a thrust, or the parry that turns it aside.
The fencer escaped the lunge with a swift volt.
A timely volt carried him clear of his opponent's blade.
Note
Fencing borrowed the same French word that gave the riding-school circle. Here the turn is the fencer's own body swinging aside from a thrust. Like the horse's circle, it is archaic, so it belongs to period swordplay, such as a duel in a historical novel, rather than to modern sport fencing. The meaning covers both dodging and parrying, and context shows whether the body or the blade does the work.
Practice
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Origins
The word comes from the name of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, after whom the unit was named.
This sense comes from French volte.