Definition of "thermoelectric" [ther•mo•e•lec•tric]

• Characteristic of, resulting from, or using electrical phenomena occurring in conjunction with a flow of heat. (adjective)

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.

• "With all the progress made in thermoelectric efficiency optimization, why not use some of it for electric power production (both stationary and propulsive)."
• "He explained that compressors are more efficient than thermoelectric, which is why they're used in larger refrigerators, but thermoelectric units are solid-state, with no moving parts, which should mean less vibration (he suggested we test this by putting glasses of water on top, and indeed the units with compressors had just a touch more vibration, but not enough to bother us)."
• "Their device, called a thermoelectric power generator, attaches to the body and generates a power output of a few microwatts, which could be useful for powering implanted medical devices and wireless sensors."