horsepower
noun
horse·pow·er
ˈhȯrs-ˌpau̇(-ə)r 
1
: the power that a horse exerts in pulling
2
: a unit of power equal in the U.S. to 746 watts and nearly equivalent to the English gravitational unit of the same name that equals 550 foot-pounds of work per second
3
: effective power
intellectual horsepower
computing horsepower
Synonyms
Examples of horsepower in a Sentence
an engine with 200 horsepower
that architectural firm probably doesn't have the creative horsepower to produce a truly innovative design
Recent Examples on the Web
At 845 horsepower, the Cyberbeast version is brawnier than the 600 hp all-wheel-drive Cybertruck currently offered on Tesla’s website, though its range is 20 miles shorter.
—
Hannah Elliott, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2024
To transform it into a topping worthy of a short stack, the sap must be boiled down to a much sweeter 66 percent sugar, a process that takes many hours and lots of horsepower.
—Ashley Stimpson, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024
The Hurricane is an inline-six with two turbochargers in two flavors, standard and high-output, with a difference of 120 horsepower (420 hp versus 540 hp) and 52 pound-feet of torque (469 lb-ft versus 521 lb-ft) between them.
—Kristin Shaw, Popular Science, 6 Mar. 2024
The Charger Daytona Scat Pack will be the top performance version, at least initially, with a maximum of 670 horsepower.
—Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, 5 Mar. 2024
Only the snarl of the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 will give away that this wagon’s packing 603 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of yank.
—Sean Evans, Robb Report, 5 Apr. 2024
The long-range single-motor version will put out 272 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 27 Mar. 2024
It’s powered by a 3-liter Hurricane Twin Turbo 510 engine, promising to deliver 510 horsepower.
—Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press, 25 Mar. 2024
New this year is extreme Dark Horse trim which features additional chassis tuning and 500 horsepower.
—James Raia, The Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2024
Hannah Elliott, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2024
To transform it into a topping worthy of a short stack, the sap must be boiled down to a much sweeter 66 percent sugar, a process that takes many hours and lots of horsepower.
—Ashley Stimpson, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024
The Hurricane is an inline-six with two turbochargers in two flavors, standard and high-output, with a difference of 120 horsepower (420 hp versus 540 hp) and 52 pound-feet of torque (469 lb-ft versus 521 lb-ft) between them.
—Kristin Shaw, Popular Science, 6 Mar. 2024
The Charger Daytona Scat Pack will be the top performance version, at least initially, with a maximum of 670 horsepower.
—Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, 5 Mar. 2024
Only the snarl of the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 will give away that this wagon’s packing 603 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of yank.
—Sean Evans, Robb Report, 5 Apr. 2024
The long-range single-motor version will put out 272 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 27 Mar. 2024
It’s powered by a 3-liter Hurricane Twin Turbo 510 engine, promising to deliver 510 horsepower.
—Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press, 25 Mar. 2024
New this year is extreme Dark Horse trim which features additional chassis tuning and 500 horsepower.
—James Raia, The Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'horsepower.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near horsepower
Cite this Entry
“Horsepower.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horsepower. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
horsepower
noun
horse·pow·er
ˈhȯr-ˌspau̇(-ə)r
: a unit of power equal in the U.S. to 746 watts and nearly equal to the English unit of the same name that equals 550 foot-pounds of work per second
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