Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Electric Shock |
Electric ShockNoun1. The use of electric shock as a form of punishment. 2. Trauma caused by the passage of electric current through the body (as from contact with high voltage lines or being struck by lightning); usually involves burns and abnormal heart rhythm and unconsciousness. 3. A reflex response to the passage of electric current through the body. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definition |
Health | A dangerous patho-physiological effect resulting from an electric current passing through the body of a human or animal. (references) |
Mining | Paralysis of the nerve center that controls breathing or a regular heartbeat. Some symptoms of electric shock are sudden loss of consciousness, absence of respiration or respiration that cannot bedetected, weak pulse, and burns. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Note: Wikipedia does not provide medical advice. If you have a medical problem, you should seek expert help.
Contact with electricity can be lethal, but the level of voltage is not a direct guide to lethality, despite the popularity of such a measure. Physiological effects are determined by voltage, amperage (current) and duration. A high voltage and a high current together are lethal, but so are a lower voltage and current of extended duration. An example of the first would be a lightning strike and of the second would be contact with a live mains cable, but even a mains cable is carrying many times a minimum lethal shock.
Electrical discharge from lightning tends to travel over the surface of the body and causes respiratory arrest. From a mains circuit the damage is more likely to be internal, leading to cardiac arrest. With line currents above 2 milliamperes there can be a muscular spasm which causes the affected person to grip and be unable to release from the current source. It is believed that human lethality is most common with AC current at 100-250 volts, as lower voltages can fail to overcome resistance while with higher voltages the victim's muscular contractions are often severe enough to cause them to recoil (although there will be considerable burn damage). Amperage damage is through tissue heating and interference with nervous control, especially over the heart. Fibrillation can be induced (and removed) by 10 mA, although, oddly, with higher amperages (20 mA and above) contractions in muscles around the heart can actually prevent the heart fibrillating (and beating normally). Tissue heating due to resistance can cause extensive and deep burns. Other issues affecting lethality are frequency, which is an issue in causing cardiac arrest or muscular spasms, and pathway - if the current passes through the chest or head there is a increased chance of death.
So depending on the circumstances, 35 kV can be taken by a human under the right conditions without great harm while 10 V accidentally at the right amperage and place can kill. The above information would appear to suggest that the requirements to distribute electrical current to domestic users have resulted in a combination that is quite deadly.
Electric shock delivered by an electric chair is sometimes used as a means of capital punishment, but this is widely regarded as inhumane.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Electric shock."
Synonyms: Electric ShockSynonyms: electrical shock (n), shock (n). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Electric Shock |
| English words defined with "electric shock": asphyxia ♦ defibrillation, defibrillator ♦ electrocution ♦ thrilling. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "electric shock": class I equipment ♦ Electric Injuries ♦ Head Protective Devices, H-Reflex ♦ nutrition educator ♦ stun gun ♦ WEIGHT-REDUCTION SPECIALIST. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | According to legend, when Kurt was 13 he was discovered in the family loo at the service of his older brother, and was promptly sent off for eighteen months of electric shock treatment (Velvet Goldmine; writing credit: James Lyons; Todd Haynes) If David steps on a stage, it produces a low-level electric shock. (Mr. Show; writing credit: Scott Aukerman; Jerry Collins) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | It was like an electric shock. |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | He felt the stroke like an electric shock. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Children | Canada | They charge that the Government is responsible for the abuse that they received in the Catholic Church-run institutions, including beatings, electric shock treatment, and sexual abuse. (references) |
Civil Liberties | China | During the year, there were numerous credible reports of abuse and even killings of FLG practitioners by the police and other security personnel, including police involvement in beatings, detention under extremely harsh conditions, and torture (including by electric shock and by having hands and feet shackled and linked with crossed steel chains). (references) |
Human Rights | Uzbekistan | Police also used suffocation, electric shock, rape, and other sexual abuse. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "electric shock"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Chinese | 觸電 (to get an electric shock). (various references) | |
Danish | elektroshock, elektrisk stød, elektrisk shock, elektrisk chok. (various references) | |
Dutch | elektroshock (electric convulsive therapy, electro-convulsive therapy), elektrische schok, schrikwerking (shock effect). (various references) | |
Finnish | sähköisku (shock effect). (various references) | |
French | effet répulsif, effet de choc, choc électrique. (various references) | |
German | elektrischer Schlag. (various references) | |
Greek | ηλεκτροπληξία (electrocution). (various references) | |
Hungarian | áramütés. (various references) | |
Italian | elettroshock, effetto repulsivo (shock effect), shock elettrico, shock da folgorazione, scossa elettrica. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 電' . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | で"'き. (various references) | |
Manx | builley lectragh. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | electricay ockshay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | efeito repulsivo (shock effect), efeito de choque (shock effect), shock eléctrico, choque eléctrico. (various references) | |
Romanian | electroşoc. (various references) | |
Spanish | efecto de guarda (shock effect), repelente (repellent, repulsive), choque eléctrico. (various references) | |
Swedish | elchock (electroshock), chockverkan (shock effect). (various references) | |
Turkish | elektro şok, elektrik şoku (shock). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-c-c-e-e-h-i-k-l-o-r-s-t" | |
-2 letters: cholesteric. | |
-3 letters: cerecloths. | |
-4 letters: cerecloth, checklist, chlorites, clothiers, cockerels, eclectics, electrics, helotries, horselike, hoteliers, lorikeets, reclothes, ricochets, sclerotic, scolecite, sketchier. | |
-5 letters: ceorlish, checkers, cheerios, chestier, chickees, chirkest, chiseler, chlorite, choicest, chokiest, choleric, chortles, cicorees, circlets, clerkish, clickers, clockers, cloister, clothier, cockerel, cockiest, coerects, coistrel, corkiest, corselet, cortices, costlier, coteries, creolise, crickets, crochets, crockets, crotches. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Quotations: Fiction 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Anagrams 12. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
