volt

/voʊlt/

/vəʊlt/

Other forms: volts

A volt is one of the units of electricity, a way to measure the force that makes an electrical current flow. A car battery typically measures between 12 and 14 volts.

Measuring electricity is complicated, but you can think of volts as the units of pressure a battery or generator exerts on a current of electricity to get it moving so it can produce power (for the electricity in your house, for example). Voltage is the overall term for this force. Both words come from the name of Alessandro Volta, the scientist who is considered by many to be the inventor of the electric battery.

Definitions of volt

1. noun

   a unit of potential equal to the potential difference between two points on a conductor carrying a current of 1 ampere when the power dissipated between the two points is 1 watt; equivalent to the potential difference across a resistance of 1 ohm when 1 ampere of current flows through it
   synonyms: V

   type of:

   potential unit

   a measure of the potential energy of a unit charge at a given point in a circuit relative to a reference point (ground)