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donkey power

noun

Etymology

The humorous unit of power is modelled on horsepower, since a donkey is a less powerful draught animal than a horse.

Definitions

  1. A unit of power equal to 250 watts, or about one third of a horsepower.

    • The Yugo car was famous for how anemic its engine was, but its output sounded more impressive when reported in donkey power.

  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically

    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: motive power provided by one or more donkeys.

    • In that era, most of the equipment in this mine was run by donkey power.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for donkey power. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA