. (Elec.) A current which periodically changes or reverses its direction of flow, especially an electric current that reverses direction sinusoidally, as is used for most domestic and industrial power requirements. Contrasted with direct curent.
Syn. -- AC [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

The common household current is alternating. Alternating current is easier than direct current to transform to high voltage and back, making long-distance transmission more efficient. [ PJC ]

n. [ F., competition, equality of rights, fr. LL. concurrentia competition. ] 1. The act of concurring; a meeting or coming together; union; conjunction; combination. [ 1913 Webster ]

We have no other measure but our own ideas, with the concurence of other probable reasons, to persuade us. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A meeting of minds; agreement in opinion; union in design or act; -- implying joint approbation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tarquin the Proud was expelled by the universal concurrence of nobles and people. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Agreement or consent, implying aid or contribution of power or influence; cooperation. [ 1913 Webster ]

We collect the greatness of the work, and the necessity of the divine concurrence to it. Rogers. [ 1913 Webster ]

An instinct that works us to its own purposes without our concurrence. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A common right; coincidence of equal powers; as, a concurrence of jurisdiction in two different courts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Concurrence. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. concurrent, L. concurrens, p. pr. of concurrere. ] 1. Acting in conjunction; agreeing in the same act or opinion; contributing to the same event or effect; cooperating. [ 1913 Webster ]

I join with these laws the personal presence of the kings' son, as a concurrent cause of this reformation. Sir J. Davies. [ 1913 Webster ]

The concurrent testimony of antiquity. Bp. Warburton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Conjoined; associate; concomitant; existing or happening at the same time. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is no difference the concurrent echo and the iterant but the quickness or slowness of the return. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Changes . . . concurrent with the visual changes in the eye. Tyndall. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Joint and equal in authority; taking cognizance of similar questions; operating on the same objects; as, the concurrent jurisdiction of courts. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Geom.) Meeting in one point.

Syn. -- Meeting; uniting; accompanying; conjoined; associated; coincident; united. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, concurs; a joint or contributory cause. [ 1913 Webster ]

To all affairs of importance there are three necessary concurrents . . . time, industry, and faculties. Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One pursuing the same course, or seeking the same objects; hence, a rival; an opponent. [ 1913 Webster ]

Menander . . . had no concurrent in his time that came near unto him. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Chron.) One of the supernumerary days of the year over fifty-two complete weeks; -- so called because they concur with the solar cycle, the course of which they follow. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With concurrence; unitedly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being concurrent; concurrence. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Agreeing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Concurring figure (Geom.), one which, being laid on another, exactly meets every part of it, or one which corresponds with another in all its parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Running in an opposite direction. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A current running in an opposite direction to the main current. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a stretch of turbulent water in the sea.
Syn. -- rip, riptide, tide rip. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a tendency or sentiment within a group which conflicts with that of the majority; -- often used in the plural. [ PJC ]

v. i. [ Prob. imitative. ] To coo. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The owlets hoot, the owlets curr. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. corinthe (raisins de Corinthe raisins of Corinth) currant (in sense 1), from the city of Corinth in Greece, whence, probably, the small dried grape (1) was first imported, the Ribes fruit (2) receiving the name from its resemblance to that grape. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A small kind of seedless raisin, imported from the Levant, chiefly from Zante and Cephalonia; -- used in cookery. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The acid fruit or berry of the Ribes rubrum or common red currant, or of its variety, the white currant. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) A shrub or bush of several species of the genus Ribes (a genus also including the gooseberry); esp., the Ribes rubrum. [ 1913 Webster ]

Black currant, a shrub or bush (Ribes nigrum and Ribes floridum) and its black, strong-flavored, tonic fruit. --
Cherry currant, a variety of the red currant, having a strong, symmetrical bush and a very large berry. --
Currant borer (Zool.), the larva of an insect that bores into the pith and kills currant bushes; specif., the larvae of a small clearwing moth (Ægeria tipuliformis) and a longicorn beetle (Psenocerus supernotatus). --
Currant worm (Zool.), an insect larva which eats the leaves or fruit of the currant. The most injurious are the currant sawfly (Nematus ventricosus), introduced from Europe, and the spanworm (Eufitchia ribearia). The fruit worms are the larva of a fly (Epochra Canadensis), and a spanworm (Eupithecia). --
Flowering currant,
Missouri currant, a species of Ribes (Ribes aureum), having showy yellow flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. any of several bluish black fruit-eating birds of Australia of the genus Strepera having a bell-like call.
Syn. -- bell magpie. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n.; pl. Currencies [ Cf. LL. currentia a current, fr. L. currens, p. pr. of currere to run. See Current. ] 1. A continued or uninterrupted course or flow like that of a stream; as, the currency of time. [ Obs. ] Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state or quality of being current; general acceptance or reception; a passing from person to person, or from hand to hand; circulation; as, a report has had a long or general currency; the currency of bank notes. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is in circulation, or is given and taken as having or representing value; as, the currency of a country; a specie currency; esp., government or bank notes circulating as a substitute for metallic money. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Fluency; readiness of utterance. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Current value; general estimation; the rate at which anything is generally valued. [ 1913 Webster ]

He . . . takes greatness of kingdoms according to their bulk and currency, and not after intrinsic value. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

The bare name of Englishman . . . too often gave a transient currency to the worthless and ungrateful. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. currant, OF. curant, corant, p. pr. of curre, corre, F. courre, courir, to run, from L. currere; perh. akin to E. horse. Cf. Course, Concur, Courant, Coranto. ] 1. Running or moving rapidly. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Like the current fire, that renneth
Upon a cord. Gower. [ 1913 Webster ]

To chase a creature that was current then
In these wild woods, the hart with golden horns. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Now passing, as time; as, the current month. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Passing from person to person, or from hand to hand; circulating through the community; generally received; common; as, a current coin; a current report; current history. [ 1913 Webster ]

That there was current money in Abraham's time is past doubt. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your fire-new stamp of honor is scarce current. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

His current value, which is less or more as men have occasion for him. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Commonly estimated or acknowledged. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Fitted for general acceptance or circulation; authentic; passable. [ 1913 Webster ]

O Buckingham, now do I play the touch
To try if thou be current gold indeed. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Account current. See under Account. --
Current money, lawful money. Abbott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. courant. See Current, a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A flowing or passing; onward motion. Hence: A body of fluid moving continuously in a certain direction; a stream; esp., the swiftest part of it; as, a current of water or of air; that which resembles a stream in motion; as, a current of electricity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Two such silver currents, when they join,
Do glorify the banks that bound them in. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The surface of the ocean is furrowed by currents, whose direction . . . the navigator should know. Nichol. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. General course; ordinary procedure; progressive and connected movement; as, the current of time, of events, of opinion, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Current meter, an instrument for measuring the velocity, force, etc., of currents. --
Current mill, a mill driven by a current wheel. --
Current wheel, a wheel dipping into the water and driven by the current of a stream or by the ebb and flow of the tide.

Syn. -- Stream; course. See Stream. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a current manner; generally; commonly; as, it is currently believed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The quality of being current; currency; circulation; general reception. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Easiness of pronunciation; fluency. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

When currentness [ combineth ] with staidness, how can the language . . . sound other than most full of sweetness? Camden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L.curriculum a running, a race course, fr. currere to run. See Current, and cf. Curriculum. ] 1. A small or short course. [ 1913 Webster ]

Upon a curricle in this world depends a long course of the next. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A two-wheeled chaise drawn by two horses abreast. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ Presumably a pseudo-Latinate coinage based on curricula. See Curriculum. ] Same as curricula, plural of curriculum. This is used commonly in the same sense as curricula, and appears to have arisen due to an incorrect assumption that curricula is a Latin-derived singular word. [ Ungrammatical ] [ PJC ]

n.; pl. E. Curriculums (-l&unr_;mz), L. Curricula [ L. See Curricle. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A race course; a place for running. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A course; particularly, a specified fixed course of study, as in a university. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. curricula vitae (-l&adot_;). [ L. the course of one's life or career. See Curriculum. ] A brief biographical summary of the main points of a person's life, especially one's education and training, the jobs one has held, and other notable activities one has participated in, as well as other notable points such as honors one has received. It is prepared and used commonly by a person who is submitting an application for a job or position of responsibility. It is also called a vita or vitae, and is abbreviated CV. [ PJC ]

n. & v. See 2d & 3d Curry. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. a. [ See Curry, v. t., and Curry, n. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Dressed by currying; cleaned; prepared. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Prepared with curry; as, curried rice, fowl, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From 1st Curry. ] One who curries and dresses leather, after it is tanned. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Cur. ] Having the qualities, or exhibiting the characteristics, of a cur; snarling; quarrelsome; snappish; churlish; hence, also malicious; malignant; brutal. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thy currish spirit
Governed a wolf. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some currish plot, -- some trick. Lockhart.

-- Cur"rish*ly, adv. -- Cur"rish*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Curried p. pr. & vb. n. Currying. ] [ OE. curraien, curreien, OF. cunreer, correier, to prepare, arrange, furnish, curry (a horse), F. corroyer to curry (leather) (cf. OF. conrei, conroi, order, arrangement, LL. conredium); cor- (L.com-) + roi, rei, arrangement, order; prob. of German origin, and akin to E. ready. See Ready, Greith, and cf. Corody, Array. ] 1. To dress or prepare for use by a process of scraping, cleansing, beating, smoothing, and coloring; -- said of leather. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To dress the hair or coat of (a horse, ox, or the like) with a currycomb and brush; to comb, as a horse, in order to make clean. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your short horse is soon curried. Beau. & FL. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To beat or bruise; to drub; -- said of persons. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have seen him curry a fellow's carcass handsomely. Beau. & FL. [ 1913 Webster ]

To curry favor, to seek to gain favor by flattery or attentions. See Favor, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Tamil kari. ] [ Written also currie. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Cookery) A kind of sauce much used in India, containing garlic, pepper, ginger, and other strong spices. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A stew of fowl, fish, or game, cooked with curry. [ 1913 Webster ]

Curry powder (Cookery), a condiment used for making curry, formed of various materials, including strong spices, as pepper, ginger, garlic, coriander seed, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To flavor or cook with curry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A kind of card or comb having rows of metallic teeth or serrated ridges, used in currying a horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To comb with a currycomb. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of running down; a lapse. [ R. ] Gauden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. decurrens, -entis, p. pr. of decurrere to run down; de- + currere to run: cf. F. décurrent. ] (Bot.) Extending downward; -- said of a leaf whose base extends downward and forms a wing along the stem. -- De*cur"rent*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

. (Elec.) The current flowing through a delta connection. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Elec.) (a) A current flowing in one direction only; -- distinguished from alternating current. When steady and not pulsating a direct current is often called a continuous current. (b)
A direct induced current, or momentary current of the same direction as the inducing current, produced by stopping or removing the latter; also, a similar current produced by removal of a magnet. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Not current or free to circulate; not in use. [ Obs. ] Sir E. Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Elec.) An induced electric current circulating wholly within a mass of metal; -- called also Foucault current. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

, the movement of electrically charged particles, atoms, or ions, through solids, liquids, gases, or free space; the term is usually used of relatively smooth movements of electric charge through conductors, whether constant or variable. Sudden movements of charge are usually referred to by other terms, such as spark or lightning or discharge. In metallic conductors the electric current is usually due to movement of electrons through the metal. The current is measured as the rate of movement of charge per unit time, and is counted in units of amperes. As a formal definition, the direction of movement of electric current is considered as the same as the direction of movement of positive charge, or in a direction opposite to the movement of negative charge. Electric current may move constantly in a single direction, called direct current (abbreviated DC), or may move alternately in one direction and then the opposite direction, called alternating current (abbreviated AC). [ PJC ]

a. [ L. excurrens, p. p. of excurrere, excursum, to run out; ex out + currere to run. See Current. ] 1. Running or flowing out; as: (Bot.) Running or extending out; as, an excurrent midrib, one which projects beyond the apex of a leaf; an excurrent steam or trunk, one which continues to the top. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zoöl.) Characterized by a current which flows outward; as, an excurrent orifice or tube. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ After J. B. L. Foucault (1819-68), French physicist. ] (Elec.) An eddy current. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Not concurring; disagreeing. [ R. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Incur. ] The act of incurring, bringing on, or subjecting one's self to (something troublesome or burdensome); as, the incurrence of guilt, debt, responsibility, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. incurrens, p. pr. incurere, incursum, to run in; in- + currere to run. ] (Zool.) Characterized by a current which flows inward; as, the incurrent orifice of lamellibranch Mollusca. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Elec.) A current due to variation in the magnetic field surrounding its conductor. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ See Intercurrent. ] A passing or running between; occurrence. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. intercurrens, p. pr. of intercurrere: cf. F. intercurrent. See Intercur. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Running between or among; intervening. Boyle. Bp. Fell. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) (a) Not belonging to any particular season. (b) Said of diseases occurring in the course of another disease. Dunglison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Something intervening. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A branch of the equatorial current of the Pacific, washing the eastern coast of Formosa and thence flowing northeastward past Japan and merging into the easterly drift of the North Pacific; -- called also Kuro-Siwo, or Black Stream, in allusion to the deep blue of its water. It is similar in may ways to the Gulf Stream. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ L. luna moon + E. current. ] Having relation to changes in currents that depend on the moon's phases. Bache. [ 1913 Webster ]