This page gathers the 1,081 dictionary entries belonging to the domain “Electrical engineering”, as labelled by Wiktionary. Each word leads to its full entry: definitions, etymology, pronunciation, examples. Page 2 of 11: from “booster” to “concentrator”.
- booster noun A motor-generator set used for voltage regulation in direct current electrical power circuits.
- borrowed neutral noun A wiring practice where the neutral conductor from one circuit is improperly shared or borrowed by another separate circuit, common in…
- botherance noun Distracting chatter on a radio link shared by emergency services, relating to ongoing situations other than what one is dealing with.
- bounce verb To turn power to (a device) off and back on; to reset; to reboot.
- bounceless adj That does not require debouncing.
- breadboard noun A device used to build a (usually temporary) prototype of an electronic circuit and for experimenting with circuit designs. Both solder and…
- break up verb Of a conversation, to cease to be understandable because of a bad connection; of a signal, to deteriorate.
- breaker noun Ellipsis of circuit breaker.
- breakout adj Splitting a signal into several signals.
- brick-wall limiter noun A limiter circuit that completely cuts off signals above a specified threshold, rather than merely attenuating the peaks.
- bricking noun The state of an electronic device being rendered completely unusable by a failed or corrupted firmware or software change.
- bridge noun An unintended solder connection between two or more components or pins.
- bridgeline noun A kind of telephone line allowing numerous people to come together in a conference call.
- bring up verb To check (a newly-assembled printed circuit board) for errors.
- bringup noun The process of checking newly-assembled printed circuit boards for defects and ensuring they run as expected.
- broadband noun A wideband of electromagnetic frequencies.
- broadcast storm noun Extreme amounts of broadcast traffic over a computer network, typically caused by a loop in the network topology.
- brownout noun A period of low alternating current line voltage, causing a reduction in illumination.
- buck verb To output a voltage that is lower than the input voltage.
- bucket brigade noun A discrete-time analogue delay line that moves a signal along a line of capacitors, one step at each clock cycle.
- buffer noun A routine or storage medium used to compensate for a difference in rate of flow of data, or time of occurrence of events, when transferring…
- bulger noun A capacitor with a bulging top.
- buncher noun A circuit that causes electrons or other charged particles in a particle beam to group together.
- burn in noun A process by which an image becomes permanently imprinted on an electronic display such as a monitor.
- burst mode noun A mode in which data is transmitted repeatedly without separate transactions.
- bus noun An electrical conductor or interface serving as a common connection for two or more circuits or components.
- bushing noun A lining for an opening through which a conductor passes, providing insulation and mechanical protection for the conductor.
- busy signal noun An audible signal to the calling party that indicates failure to complete the requested connection; an engaged tone.
- buttinsky noun A robust portable one-piece telephone instrument with clips, used by technicians and lines staff for testing telephone circuits or making a…
- cable core noun Central part or the innermost part of a power cable which carries electric current and is surrounded by various layers of insulation.
- call center noun A communications facility where phone calls are handled; especially, a commercial one for customer service, sales and telemarketing.
- call delay noun The delay that occurs when a call arrives at an automatic switching device and no channel or facility is immediately available to process…
- call history noun An itemised list of the telephone numbers called from a particular account.
- call tree noun A hierarchical communication structure used to rapidly notify a group of people during emergencies or critical events.
- callback noun A return telephone or radio call; especially one made automatically to authenticate a logon to a computer network.
- callee noun The person who is called by the caller (on the telephone).
- caller noun The person who makes a telephone call.
- calligraphic projection noun A system for displaying or projecting an image composed of a beam of light or electrons directly tracing the image, as opposed to sweeping…
- candlestick telephone noun An early style of telephone with a mouthpiece (transmitter) mounted at the top of its stand, and a receiver that was held by the user to…
- cap noun A capacitor.
- capacitor noun An electronic component capable of storing electrical energy in an electric field; especially one consisting of two conductors separated by…
- capacitor plague noun Premature failure of an electrolytic capacitor, especially when several are beginning to fail at the same time in a piece of equipment…
- capstan noun A rotating spindle used to move recording tape through the mechanism of a tape recorder.
- card clash noun The situation where two or more contactless payment cards are simultaneously detected by a card reader, possibly resulting in the incorrect…
- carrier noun A mobile network operator; wireless carrier.
- cartridge ejector noun A mechanism to eject a cartridge from its housing or cartridge drive, often operating on a simple mechanical principle.
- catapult effect noun The phenomenon where a loose current-carrying wire is catapulted horizontally away in the presence of a magnetic field.
- cathode noun An electrode, of a cell or other electrically polarized device, through which a positive current of electricity flows outwards (and thus…
- cathode ray noun A ray consisting of a stream of electrons in a vacuum tube that are emitted by the cathode and accelerated towards the anode by an electric…
- cathode ray tube noun A vacuum tube that displays still or moving images (such as for a television), by controlling the direction of a cathode ray emitted…
- cavity magnetron noun A high-power vacuum tube used in early radar systems and subsequently in microwave ovens and in linear particle accelerators.
- CCD noun Initialism of charge-coupled device (digital camera cell technology).
- CD3 noun an 80-mm (3-inch) CD (compact disc)
- CD5 noun a 120-mm (5-inch) CD (compact disc)
- cdr noun Initialism of call detail record: a computer record representing a unit of traffic handled by a telephone exchange.
- celerity noun The speed of symbol transmission, now called baud rate.
- cell noun A region of radio reception, or the group of devices that uses it, that is a part of a larger radio network.
- cellular adj Using cells (local groups of devices sharing a transceiver).
- Centrex noun A service similar to a private branch exchange, but providing switching at the central office instead of at the customer's premises.
- channel noun A connection between initiating and terminating nodes of a circuit.
- charge noun An electric charge.
- charged particle noun Any particle, especially a subatomic particle, that carries an electric charge.
- chicken bit noun A bit on a chip that can be used to disable one of the features of the chip if it proves faulty or negatively impacts performance.
- chip noun A circuit fabricated in one piece on a small, thin substrate; a microchip.
- chipless adj Without microchips.
- choke noun A choking coil.
- chopper noun Any of various electronic switches used to interrupt one signal under the control of another.
- churn noun The time when a consumer switches his/her service provider.
- circuit noun Enclosed path of an electric current, usually designed for a certain function.
- circuit breaker noun An electrical switch capable of opening and closing an electrical circuit in all operating conditions, including fault situations.
- circuit topology noun The form of an electronic circuit taken by the network of its components.
- circulator noun A passive electronic component with three or more ports, in which the ports can be accessed in such a way that when a signal is fed into…
- clamp noun An electronic circuit that fixes either the positive or the negative peak excursions of a signal to a defined value by shifting its DC…
- clamper noun A circuit that restricts the amplitude of a waveform.
- clean feed noun The setup of a mixing console or matrix mixer such that the output contains everything except a designated input; often used to prevent…
- clearance time noun The amount of time from when a fault is detected to when a circuit is automatically reopened.
- clearing noun A sequence of events used to disconnect a call, and return to the ready state.
- clipper noun A circuit which prevents the amplitude of a wave from exceeding a set value.
- clock noun An electrical signal that synchronizes timing among digital circuits of semiconductor chips or modules.
- clock out verb To transmit individual bits of data under the control of a clock.
- clock rate noun The rate of clock pulses in an electronic circuit.
- clock skew noun A phenomenon in synchronous digital circuit systems in which the same sourced clock signal arrives at different components at different…
- clocked adj Electronically running at a particular rate; governed by a repetitive time signal.
- close verb To move to a position allowing electricity to flow.
- closed adj In a position allowing electricity to flow.
- cloud noun A telecom network (from their representation in engineering drawings).
- coaxial cable noun A transmission line, consisting of a conducting wire surrounded by an insulated spacer, surrounded by a cylindrical conducting sheath; used…
- coil noun A coil of electrically conductive wire through which electricity can flow.
- cold cathode noun A type of cathode that does not use a heating element to produce emission of cathode rays (electrons), beyond base thermionic emission…
- collector noun The amplified terminal on a bipolar junction transistor.
- combinational logic noun A form of digital circuit logic where the current outputs are entirely a function of the current inputs, without having a memory of…
- common carrier noun A company providing public telecommunications facilities.
- commonality noun A quality that applies to materiel or systems: (a) possessing like and interchangeable parts or characteristics enabling each to be…
- communications satellite noun An artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals by means of a transponder.
- commutate verb To reverse the direction of (a current).
- commutation noun The reversal of an electric current.
- compatibility noun the capability of two or more items or components of equipment or material to exist or function in the same system or environment without…
- complement noun A voltage level with the opposite logical sense to the given one.
- compressor noun A device that reduces the dynamic range of an audio signal.
- concentrator noun A hub.