HORSE POWER • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Horse power

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/hɔrs pˈaʊər/ Listen

noun

Horse power n.

1.

The power which a horse exerts.

2.

(Mach.) A unit of power, used in stating the power required to drive machinery, and in estimating the capabilities of animals or steam engines and other prime movers for doing work. It is the power required for the performance of work at the rate of 33,000 English units of work per minute; hence, it is the power that must be exerted in lifting 33,000 pounds at the rate of one foot per minute, or 550 pounds at the rate of one foot per second, or 55 pounds at the rate of ten feet per second, etc. Note: The power of a draught horse, of average strength, working eight hours per day, is about four fifths of a standard horse power.

Brake horse power, the net effective power of a prime mover, as a steam engine, water wheel, etc., in horse powers, as shown by a friction brake. See Friction brake, under Friction.

Indicated horse power, the power exerted in the cylinder of an engine, stated in horse powers, estimated from the diameter and speed of the piston, and the mean effective pressure upon it as shown by an indicator. See Indicator.

Nominal horse power (Steam Engine), a term still sometimes used in England to express certain proportions of cylinder, but having no value as a standard of measurement.

3.

A machine worked by a horse, for driving other machinery; a horse motor.

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Etymology of 'Horse power'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Horse power" Quotes from Famous Books

... no longer impossible today. Some years ago, at Bridgeport, Connecticut, there was launched a boat, The Protector, which could go on the water, under the water, and also upon land. Built by an inventor named Lake, supplied with two motors, an electric one of seventy-five horse power, and a gasoline one of two hundred and fifty horse power, it was also provided with wheels a yard in diameter, which enabled it to roll over the roads, as well ...

— The Master of the World • Jules Verne

... value than the year's subscription. In No. 9, present volume, you illustrated a plan for setting steam boilers. I was much pleased with it and showed it to a friend of mine who was about re-setting a 60-horse power boiler in his machine shop. He adopted the plan. Four week's use of the improved furnace proves all you claimed for it. My friend will be one of your new subscribers. I shall, in a few days, re-set my 15-horse ...

— Scientific American, Vol. 17, No. 26 December 28, 1867 • Various

... By horse power.—It does not fall within the scope of this book to describe water-wheels worked by cattle, or elaborate mechanism of any kind; I therefore only mention under this head, that the Tartars sometimes draw water from their wells, of 150 feet deep and upwards, ...

— The Art of Travel - Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries • Francis Galton

... is a London "scientist", reported in the "Weekly Unity" of Kansas City, who proves his mental power over two-horse power oil engines which fail to act. "Going a little apart, he came back in a few minutes and said: 'The engine is all right now and will work satisfactorily.' and without any further difficulty it did." We are told how Dr. Rawson gave a demonstration of his method to a newspaper reporter ...

— The Profits of Religion, Fifth Edition • Upton Sinclair

... engineer of Spray, North Carolina, was experimenting in an attempt to prepare metallic calcium, for which purpose he employed an electric furnace operating on a mixture of lime and coal tar with about ninety-five horse power. The result was a molten mass which became hard and brittle when cool. This apparently useless product was discarded and thrown in a nearby stream, when, to the astonishment of onlookers, a large volume of gas was immediately liberated, which, when ignited, burned with ...

— Oxy-Acetylene Welding and Cutting • Harold P. Manly

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