circuit breaker
8
3.9
- noun
- /ˈsɜrkɪt ˈbreɪkər/
- Specialized
:
disyuntor
- The technician explained how a circuit breaker prevents electrical fires by stopping current flow during an overload.
- circuit breaker tripped
- flip the circuit breaker
- circuit breaker is blown
Now, all of these tools have a tendency to trip the circuit breaker in our basement, so I got cordless versions of all of those.
- Now, all of these tools have a tendency to trip the circuit breaker in our basement, so I got cordless versions of all of those.
- So let's say we have a circuit breaker, OK, and I'm loading everything up to one fucking circuit.
Examples
-
Where's your circuit breaker?
-
Where's the circuit breaker?
-
Do you know where the circuit breaker is?
-
Where are the circuit breakers, Doctor?
-
Know where the circuit breaker is for the room you are working in.
Blog text (25) -
Just flip the red circuit breaker, the biggest one in the box.
Fiction book (1993) -
I need you to go to the circuit breaker and check switches six through twelve.
Fiction book (2000) -
You don't know where your circuit breaker is?
-
Wait in the foyer while I go look for the main circuit breaker.
-
The lights trip off as the circuit breaker is blown, leaving everything in semi-darkness.
Fiction book (1996)
Synonyms
54
4.4
A safety wire that melts to stop electricity when current is too high
48
4.3
A switch that stops electricity when too much flows in a circuit
1
5.8
A device that stops an electric current to protect a circuit
1
6.9
A device that stops electrical current when there is an overload
1
4.1
A small device in an electrical circuit that stops the electric current when it becomes too strong
A small part with a thin wire that melts to stop dangerous electric current
How Protective
- Specialized
8
3.9
- Specialized
54
4.4
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The term borrows a concrete electrical device image: 'circuit' + 'breaker' literally describes a switch that interrupts current. Learners who know both words can plausibly infer a device (or mechanism) that interrupts a flow to prevent harm, but the technical software-specific behavior (detecting failures and temporarily blocking calls) is a metaphorical extension requiring domain knowledge, so the relation is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Circuit breaker comes from the picture of a loop of electricity: the circuit is broken by the breaker, so the current stops to keep things safe. That's why it means 'stop the flow of electricity' when there is too much power.