Definition of "dipole" [dipole]

• Physics A pair of electric charges or magnetic poles, of equal magnitude but of opposite sign or polarity, separated by a small distance. (noun)
• Chemistry A molecule having two such charges or poles. (noun)
• Electronics An antenna, usually fed from the center, consisting of two equal rods extending outward in a straight line. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Another strategy was to create "electrochromic dyes" with large changes in dipole moment between ground and excited state, so that a change in neuronal membrane potential could shift the peak wavelengths of absorbance or fluorescence4."
• "If there is no external field we call the dipole permanent, written as pperm."
• "I was especially proud of this one I got from South America (on a 40-meter dipole, which is the equivalent of getting Radio Free Europe through the braces in your mouth)."