English

Noun

powerhouse ‎(plural powerhouses)

1. A power station.
   • 1986, Donald R. Froelich, ‎S. K. Wagner, Fourth International Symposium on Hydro Power Fluid Machinery

     The new powerhouse comprised two tube turbines with a total capacity of 4,500 kW under 18.3 feet head.

2. (figuratively) Any source of power, energy or strength.

   The company has been a powerhouse in its industry for many years.

   She's a powerhouse of ideas.

   • 2016 August 25, Fareed Zakaria, “What the Olympics reveal about the world”, in The Washington Post:

     The Soviet Union often led the world in the Olympics during the Cold War, and East Germany was an Olympic powerhouse — though athletes from both are now believed to have been systematically and massively doped..

See also

• workhorse

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