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Power vs Gain - What's the difference?

power | gain |

As nouns the difference between power and gain

is that power is a button of a computer, a video game console, or similar device, that when pressed, causes the device to be either shut down or powered up while gain is the act of gaining or gain can be (architecture) a square or bevelled notch cut out of a girder, binding joist, or other timber which supports a floor beam, so as to receive the end of the floor beam.

As a preposition gain is

(obsolete) against.

As an adjective gain is

(obsolete) straight, direct; near; short.

As an adverb gain is

(obsolete) straightly; quickly; by the nearest way or means.

As a verb gain is

to acquire possession of what one did not have before.

power

English

(wikipedia power)

Alternative forms

* powre (obsolete)

Noun

  • (social) Effectiveness.
  • # (countable) Capability or influence.
  • #*
  • An incident which happened about this time will set the characters of these two lads more fairly before the discerning reader than is in the power of the longest dissertation.
  • #*
  • Thwackum, on the contrary, maintained that the human mind, since the fall, was nothing but a sink of iniquity, till purified and redeemed by grace.The favourite phrase of the former, was the natural beauty of virtue; that of the latter, was the divine power of grace.
  • #* {{quote-book, year=1913, author=
  • , title=Lord Stranleigh Abroad, chapter=4 citation , passage=“[…] That woman is stark mad, Lord Stranleigh. Her own father recognised it when he bereft her of all power in the great business he founded. […]”}}
  • #* 1998 , (Eckhart Tolle), (The Power of Now)
  • Past and future obviously have no reality of their own. Just as the moon has no light of its own, but can only reflect the light of the sun, so are past and future only pale reflections of the light, power , and reality of the eternal present.
  • # Control, particularly legal or political (jurisdiction).
  • #* 1949', Eric Blair, aka '''(George Orwell) , ''(Nineteen Eighty-Four)
  • The Party seeks power' entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in '''power'''. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only '''power''', pure '''power'''. [...] We know that no one ever seizes '''power''' with the intention of relinquishing it. '''Power''' is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of '''power''' is ' power .
  • #* 2005 , Columbia Law Review , April
  • In the face of expanding federal power , California in particular struggled to maintain control over its Chinese population.
  • #* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Can China clean up fast enough? , passage=It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.}}
  • # (chiefly in the plural) The people in charge of legal or political power, the government.
  • # An influential nation, company, or other such body.
  • #* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-16, author= John Vidal
  • , volume=189, issue=10, page=8, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas , passage=Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers , India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.}}
  • (physical, uncountable) Effectiveness.
  • # Physical force or strength.
  • # Electricity or a supply of electricity.
  • #* {{quote-book, year=1913, author=
  • , title=Lord Stranleigh Abroad, chapter=4 citation , passage=“My father had ideas about conservation long before the United States took it up.
  • #* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Out of the gloom , passage=[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.}}
  • # A measure of the rate of doing work or transferring energy.
  • # A rate to magnify an optical image by a lens or mirror.
  • (mathematics) Effectiveness.
  • # A product of equal factors. Notation and usage: x''''n'', read as "''x'' to the power of ''n''" or "''x'' to the ''n''th power", denotes ''x'' × ''x'' × ... × ''x'', in which ''x'' appears ''n'' times, where ''n is called the exponent; the definition is extended to non-integer and complex exponents.
  • # (set theory) Cardinality.
  • # (statistics) The probability that a statistical test will reject the null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true.
  • (biblical, in plural) In Christian angelology, an intermediate level of angels, ranked above archangels, but exact position varies by classification scheme.
  • Usage notes

    * Adjectives often used with "power": electric, nuclear, solar, optical, mechanical, political, absolute, corporate, institutional, military, economic, solar, magic, magical, huge, physical, mental, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, sexual, seductive, coercive, erotic, natural, cultural, positive, negative, etc.

    Synonyms

    * energy * force * main * might * muscle * potency * sinew * strength * vigor * aptitude * capability * capacity * competence * competency * authority * command * control * dominion * grip * hold * mastery * influence * pull * weight * arm * sway * clout * See also

    Antonyms

    * impotence * weakness

    Derived terms

    * absolute power * Black Power * candlepower * empower * flower power * hard power * horsepower * in power * institutional power * moral power * more power to your elbow * nuclear power * optical power * personal power * political power * poor power * power consumption * power of attorney * power base * power behind the throne * power broker * power cut * power-egg * power forward * powerful * power jam * powerless * powerlike * power play, powerplay * power set * powers that be * power struggle * power trip, power-trip, powertrip * power user * power vacuum * social power * soft power * solar power * superpower * white power * wind power

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To provide power for (a mechanical or electronic device).
  • This CD player is powered by batteries.
  • To hit or kick something forcefully.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=February 1 , author=Mandeep Sanghera , title=Man Utd 3 - 1 Aston Villa , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=United keeper Edwin van der Sar was the unlikely provider as his clearance found Rooney, who had got ahead of last defender Richard Dunne, and the forward brilliantly controlled a ball coming from over his shoulder before powering a shot past Brad Friedel. }}

    Derived terms

    * power down * power up * empower

    Statistics

    *

    gain

    English

    Etymology 1

    From dialectal English (m), (m), short for (m), . More at (l).

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • (obsolete) Against.
  • Derived terms
    * (l)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (m), (m), , from the adjective.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Straight, direct; near; short.
  • the gainest way
  • (obsolete) Suitable; convenient; ready.
  • (dialectal) Easy; tolerable; handy, dexterous.
  • (dialectal) Honest; respectable; moderate; cheap.
  • Derived terms
    * (l) * (l)

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (obsolete) Straightly; quickly; by the nearest way or means.
  • (dialectal) Suitably; conveniently; dexterously; moderately.
  • (dialectal) Tolerably; fairly.
  • gain quiet (= fairly/pretty quiet)

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) (m), . The Middle English word was reinforced by (etyl) . Related to (l), (l).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of gaining.
  • * Tennyson
  • the lust of gain
  • What one gains, as a return on investment or dividend.
  • No pain, no gain .
  • * Shakespeare
  • Everyone shall share in the gains .
  • (electronics) The factor by which a signal is multiplied.
  • Antonyms
    * loss
    Derived terms
    * autogain * gainful * gainsome

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To acquire possession of what one did not have before.
  • Looks like you've gained a new friend.
  • * Bible, Matthew xvi. 26
  • What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
  • * Alexander Pope
  • For fame with toil we gain , but lose with ease.
  • To have or receive advantage or profit; to acquire gain; to grow rich; to advance in interest, health, or happiness; to make progress.
  • The sick man gains daily.
  • * Bible, Ezekiel xxii. 12
  • Thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion.
  • (dated) To come off winner or victor in; to be successful in; to obtain by competition.
  • to gain''' a battle; to '''gain a case at law
  • To increase.
  • * 1883 , (Howard Pyle), (The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood)
  • Then they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength.
  • To be more likely to catch or overtake an individual.
  • I'm gaining (on you).
    gain ground
  • To reach.
  • to gain the top of a mountain
  • * 1907 , Jack London, The Iron Heel :
  • Ernest laughed harshly and savagely when he had gained the street.
  • To draw into any interest or party; to win to one's side; to conciliate.
  • * Bible, Matthew xviii. 15
  • If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
  • * Dryden
  • to gratify the queen, and gain the court
  • To put on weight.
  • I've been gaining .
  • (of a clock or watch) To run fast.
  • Etymology 4

    Compare (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (architecture) A square or bevelled notch cut out of a girder, binding joist, or other timber which supports a floor beam, so as to receive the end of the floor beam.
  • Anagrams

    * (l) * (l) * (l), (l) ----