Word
horsepower
Phoneticshorse·pow·er, stress on the first syllable
US/ˈhɔɹˌspaʊɝ/
UK/hˈɔːspaʊɐ/
Uncountable noun Engineering
Definition
n. a unit used to measure the power of an engine. It tells you how much work a car or machine can do in a certain amount of time.
n. a unit of power equal to 550 foot-pounds per second or approximately 746 watts. Often used to quantify the output of internal combustion engines or electric motors.
Examples
“The new sports car has over 400 horsepower.”
“When choosing a tractor, the farmer looked for high horsepower to ensure it could pull heavy machinery across the muddy fields.”
“Engineers managed to increase the vehicle's horsepower without sacrificing fuel efficiency by implementing a more sophisticated turbocharging system and reducing the overall weight of the chassis.”
Examples
simple
“The new sports car has over 400 horsepower.”
contextual
“When choosing a tractor, the farmer looked for high horsepower to ensure it could pull heavy machinery across the muddy fields.”
complex
“Engineers managed to increase the vehicle's horsepower without sacrificing fuel efficiency by implementing a more sophisticated turbocharging system and reducing the overall weight of the chassis.”
Usage
Usually treated as uncountable when referring to the general power of an engine, though specific figures are often cited as a number followed by the word.
Real-World Examples
“The car produces more than 1,000 horsepower and Jaguar says it will travel up to 400 miles on a single charge.” “The rig you’re looking at here shipped from the factory with a two-stroke Detroit 12V149T engine making 1,000 horsepower at 1,900 rpm.” Etymology
From horse + power: the unit was originally defined as the amount of power that a horse could provide. Both non-metric and metric units of power were derived from effectively identical measurements of the power a draught horse could sustain over several hours, with the difference in watts solely due to different rounding errors to express that power in round numbers in the original non-SI units (ft·lbf/min and kgf⋅m/s respectively).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B2 FirstIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.5.5–6.5TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 4.0–4.572–94TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.785–944
- Frequency
- Frequent
- Level
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Updated
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