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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. The centimeter-gram-second unit of energy or work equal to the work done by a force of one dyne acting over a distance of one centimeter.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. In physics, the unit of work in the centimeter-gram-second system—that is, the amount of work done by the unit of force, one dyne, acting through the unit of distance, one centimeter. One foot-pound is approximately equal to 1.356 × 10 ergs, and one horse-power (English) is equal to 7.46 × 10 ergs per second. Also ergon.

Wiktionary

  1. n. geomorphology A large desert region of sand dunes with little or no vegetation, especially in the Sahara.
  2. n. The unit of work or energy, being the amount of work done by a dyne working through a distance of one centimeter. Equal to 10−7 joules.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. (Physics) The unit of work or energy in the C. G. S. system, being the amount of work done by a dyne working through a distance of one centimeter; the amount of energy expended in moving a body one centimeter against a force of one dyne (981 dynes exert the same force as a one gram mass in the earth's gravitational field). One foot pound is equal to 13,560,000 ergs. The absolute Joule is equivalent to 107 ergs, which are equivalent to 0.2389 gram-calories at 15° C. See also mechanical equivalent of heat under equivalent.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a cgs unit of work or energy; the work done by a force of one dyne acting over a distance of one centimeter

Etymologies

  1. From French erg, from Maghrebi Arabic عرگ (‘erg), corresponding to Standard Arabic عرق (‘irq). (Wiktionary)
  2. From Greek ergon, work; see werg- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “The name erg is derived from the Greek word ergon meaning "work".”

    Erg

  • “And you’re off like a shot, using that last bit of energy, the last erg from the gels and bars and the glycogen your muscles have saved.”

    What It’s Like

  • “An erg is the unit of energy and mechanical work The erg is a small unit, equal to a force of one dyne exerted for a distance of one centimetre.”

    Sorry… - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger?

  • “So the form of the infinite and universal energy, which we may call erg-dynamic, is the cause of the waste of the body through which it works; and this is at once made good by the increased trophic metabolism which occurs, to replace the waste -- this increased trophic metabolism showing itself in increased O_2 intake and coincidently or correspondingly with increased CO_2 output.”

    The Problems of Psychical Research Experiments and Theories in the Realm of the Supernormal

  • “An erg is the unit of energy and mechanical work in the centimeter-gram-second (CGS) system of units, symbol "erg".”

    Erg

  • “After riding with a band of a hundred men, twenty of them mounted, they spent the night at a place where there was what the Celts call an "erg" (_airigh_) but the Norse call "setr," the modern sheiling.”

    Sutherland and Caithness in Saga-Time or, The Jarls and The Freskyns

  • “The Technocrat has told us all kinds of silly things about abandoning our customary standard of values and substituting the scientific standard which is usually measured by an "erg" or an "umph".”

    The Riddle of the Depression

  • “Squampton: "Like many of us, I have both, but Midomi tends to find foreign songs a lot better ..." erg: "it's great to see sound recognition technologies starting to get broader use ....”

    The iPhone Blog

  • “We go straight to the consumer," said Mr. Lindeb erg.”

    The Wall Street Journal: Denim Master Unveils New Line

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hypernyms (3)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. energy unit
  1. heat unit
  1. work unit

same context (2)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. pàramità
  1. daar

reverse dictionary (6)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. ergon
  1. physical unit
  1. unit of work
  1. work
  1. dyne-centimeter
  1. unit

tags (6)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. groan sounds
  1. weird science
  1. crew
  1. sport
  1. science
  1. measurement

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Comments

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  • skipvia Great. I thought Amp, Ohm, and Erg were the three elves that brought us electricity. Oct 10, 2007

  • npydyuan Always makes me think of the board game (from the 80's I think) that was based on Frank Herbert's Dune books. There were lots of ergs in there. Sep 19, 2007

  • serenete An erg is a sandy desert vs a rocky one (hamada); see http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/erg. Sep 19, 2007

  • spazgirl Origin: 1870–75; < Gk érgon work Dec 9, 2006

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‘erg’ has been looked up 3793 times, loved by 2 people, added to 18 lists, commented on 4 times, and has a Scrabble score of 4.