electrify — English Dictionary

Verb

1. To supply electricity to; to charge with electricity.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   electricalizeelectricizeelectrizeenergizegalvanize

   Examples

   to electrify a cable

   More examples (1)

   Those most rural routes will not get overhead wires. As Reeve told the seminar: "Even in my wildest dreams, I can't see a business case for electrifying the Far North Line."

2. To cause electricity to pass through; to affect by electricity; to give an electric shock to.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   electricalizeelectricizeelectrizegalvanizeshockzap

   Examples

   to electrify a limb, or the body

3. To adapt (a home, farm, village, city, industry, vehicle, railroad) for electric power.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   And I want to get different kinds of sound. I want to electrify myself a bit. I got a phase shifter for my guitar, and I've been playing with a drum machine.

   More examples (1)

   Baroness Randerson had asked if, following the publication of the Government's Decarbonising transport: setting the challenge report in March, there had been any consideration to electrify more rail lines - and if so, to prioritise routes between Cardiff and Swansea, in the East Midlands and in the Lake District. All had been planned for electrification before subsequently being cancelled.

4. To strongly excite, especially by something delightful or inspiring; to thrill.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   galvanizevitalize

   Examples

   Her performance in the play electrified the audience.

   If the sovereign were now to immure a subject in defiance of the writ of habeas corpus […] the whole nation would be instantly electrified by the news.

   More examples (3)

   Try whether she could electrify Mr. Grandcourt by mentioning it to him at table.

   His poeticized version of a news flash about the advent of AIDS (the disease that killed his mother) electrifies, as it should, like unexpected lightning.

   The trailblazing Oaxacan chef Alejandro Ruiz […] has spiked this black-bean sauce with a hidden depth charge of flavor: patches of foliage from a local avocado tree. The leaves electrify the sauce with an unexpected thrum of black licorice.

5. To make electric.

   Usage

   • Intransitive

Verb

1. excite suddenly and intensely

   Broader terms

   agitaterouseturn onchargecommoveexcitecharge up

   Examples

   The news electrified us

2. charge (a conductor) with electricity

   Broader terms

   fillfill upmake full

3. equip for use with electricity

   Synonyms

   wire

   Broader terms

   adaptaccommodate

   Examples

   electrify an appliance