power

▪ I. power pow‧er ¹ [ˈpaʊə ǁ paʊr] noun

1. [uncountable] the ability or right to control people, organizations, events etc:

• I'm against giving too much power to one man.

power over

• Congress's power over federal spending

• He plans to resign after losing a power struggle within the firm.

2. [countable, uncountable] LAW the right or authority to do something:

• The lawmakers approved the President's demands for special powers to implement change.

• He had almost unlimited executive powers to restructure the organization as he saw fit.

• The Board of Trade invoked emergency powers (= special powers used to deal with an unusual dangerous situation ) to stop an attempt to limit the soybean market.

ˈbanking ˌpower [countable] BANKING LAW

the legal right given to banks to perform certain activities that other types of business organizations cannot perform:

• The Fed favors capital-strong institutions in awarding increased banking powers.

ˈborrowing ˌpowers [plural] FINANCE

powers that are given to the directors of a company by its shareholders to borrow money:

• The company's shareholders have recently agreed to extend its borrowing powers.

ˈunderwriting ˌpower [uncountable]

FINANCE LAW the legal right of some financial institutions to underwrite (= arrange to sell) bonds, shares etc:

• With underwriting power, we get a large share of the profits.

3. [countable] a country or organization that is strong and has a lot of influence:

• The US is still the world's leading economic power.

• a globalfinancial power

• a war between film producers and some of cable TV's biggest powers

4. [uncountable] an ability to do something, influence a situation etc:

• the incredible power of advertising

• the job-generating power of small firms

ˈbargaining ˌpower [uncountable] COMMERCE

power that one person or group has during discussions to get an agreement in their favour:

• This new law gives management tremendous bargaining power.

ˈbuyer ˌpower [uncountable] COMMERCE

the relative strength of buyers in relation to sellers:

• Centralised buying by different departments means that the industrial marketer may be faced with an increase in buyer power.

ˈbuying ˌpower

1. [uncountable] COMMERCE the ability of a person or organization to buy things, depending on the amount of money they have available; =PURCHASING POWER, SPENDING POWER:

• Unemployment and low wages will mean low local buying power.

2. [uncountable] FINANCE the amount that a unit of a particular currency buys at a particular time; = PURCHASING POWER

ˈearning ˌpower [uncountable] COMMERCE

the ability of a person to earn money, or of a business or an investment to make a profit:

• the market for men 25 to 45 years old, with high earning power

• This year's results aren't typical of the company's true earning power.

ˈgrey ˌpower , gray power [uncountable] JOURNALISM

the political and economic power of older people:

• Politicians are only just becoming aware of the impact that grey power might have on the next election.

ˈmarket ˌpower [uncountable] COMMERCE

the relative strength that a seller in a market has to set prices etc:

• We prevent abuse of market power through anti-trust and anti-monopoly laws.

ˈpester ˌpower

[uncountable] informal MARKETING the ability that children have to make their parents buy things by asking for them again and again:

• Smart companies are trying to harness pester power as kids increasingly influence their parents' brand choices.

ˈpricing ˌpower [uncountable] ECONOMICS

the effect that a change in the price of a company's product has on the demand for that product:

• The steady increase in US imports means that lower cost goods continue to enter the country, undermining the pricing power of domestic businesses.

ˈpurchasing ˌpower

1. [uncountable] COMMERCE the ability of a person or organization to buy things, depending on the amount of money they have available; =BUYING POWER, SPENDING POWER:

• Inflation is also caused by too much purchasing power in the economy.

2. [uncountable] FINANCE the amount that a unit of a particular currency buys at a particular time; = BUYING POWER:

• The purchasing power of the dollar has declined.

ˈspending ˌpower [uncountable] COMMERCE FINANCE

another name for purchasing power:

• The lowering of interest rates increased consumer spending power.

5. [uncountable] energy that is used to make electricity, electricity itself, and the industries that produce it:

• Turn the power on with the switch.

• doubts about the safety ofnuclear power

• renewable energy, such as wind and solar power (= power from the sun's energy )

6. [uncountable] the ability of a machine to perform work:

• Supercomputers use multiple processors to vastly increase computing power and speed.

  [m0] ▪ II. power power ² verb

1. [transitive] to supply power to a vehicle or machine:

• The car will be powered by electricity.

2. gas-powered/​nuclear-powered etc working by means of gas, Nuclear Energy etc:

• gas-powered turbines

power up phrasal verb

1. [transitive] power something ↔ up if you power up a computer, you start it

2. [intransitive] JOURNALISM FINANCE if the price of shares etc powers up, it rises very fast:

• The three-month price for zinc powered up to $1675 a tonne.

  [m0] ▪ III. power power ³ adjective [only before a noun]

1. driven by a motor:

• power tools

2. informal showing that you are an important person in a business organization:

• If you think you can have a power career and a fulfilling family life, you're crazy.

• the director's power lunches with movie moguls in trendy restaurants

• a power nap (= a short sleep during the day that allows you to work more effectively later )

* * *

Ⅰ.

power UK US /ˈpaʊə^r/ noun

► [U] the ability to control or influence people, organizations, events, etc.: »

Shareholder power is a crucial part of how any capitalist society works.

power over sb/sth »

Most CEOs have a great deal of power over the boards of directors.

the power to do sth »

Oil prices still have the power to hurt the world economy.

»

The bitter power struggle at the top of the company had a negative effect on the value of its shares.

»

The balance of power in global markets is beginning to shift.

be in power »

The last government was in power for over a decade.

► [C or U] an official or legal authority to do something: have the power to do sth »

The regulator has the power to block a deal that would be damaging to consumers.

emergency/executive/special powers »

The Prime Minister was set to invoke emergency powers to handle the distribution of petrol during the crisis.

► [C] a group, country, or organization that has control over others, especially because of financial or military strength: a world/global power »

China is fast developing into a major global power.

»

a military/political power

»

a corporate/economic/financial power

► [U] the strength or influence of something in a particular market or activity: »

We are seeing a shift in economic power from Europe to Asia.

»

I believe he has seriously underestimated the power of the brand.

► [U] energy that is produced and used to make things work: »

The agency is running a campaign to try and turn public opinion in favour of nuclear power.

»

The energy regulator agreed that power companies could make customers sign long-term agreements.

a power cut/failure/outage »

A power outage in Quebec left 6 million people in the dark.

► [U] IT the ability of a machine, computer, etc. to work effectively: »

The system is a way of measuring how much computer-processing power is needed to handle all the hits to a customer's site.

→ See also BARGAINING POWER(Cf. ↑bargaining power), BORROWING POWERS(Cf. ↑borrowing powers), BUYER POWER(Cf. ↑buyer power), BUYING POWER(Cf. ↑buying power), EARNING POWER(Cf. ↑earning power), GREY POWER(Cf. ↑grey power), MARKET POWER(Cf. ↑market power), PESTER POWER(Cf. ↑pester power), PRICING POWER(Cf. ↑pricing power), PURCHASING POWER(Cf. ↑purchasing power), SOLAR POWER(Cf. ↑solar power), SPENDING POWER(Cf. ↑spending power), STAYING POWER(Cf. ↑staying power), UNDERWRITING POWER(Cf. ↑underwriting power), WIND POWER(Cf. ↑wind power)

Ⅱ.

power UK US /ˈpaʊə^r/ verb [T]

► to provide a machine, computer, vehicle, etc. with the energy it needs to work effectively: »

be powered by sth

»

There is increasing interest in cars powered by alternative fuels, such as ethanol or clean diesel.

»

Most computers are now powered by Intel chips.

► to make something happen in a faster or more effective way: »

The supermarket's strong performance was powered by a 39% increase in sales of organic produce.

Ⅲ.

power UK US /ˈpaʊə^r/ adjective [before noun]

► operated by electricity or a motor: »

power tools

»

a power drill

► used to describe something that shows that you are a busy important person in a company: »

She was wearing her trademark power suit for the meeting.