current
    adj 1: occurring in or belonging to the present time; "current
           events"; "the current topic"; "current negotiations";
           "current psychoanalytic theories"; "the ship's current
           position" [ant: noncurrent]
    n 1: a flow of electricity through a conductor; "the current was
         measured in amperes" [syn: current, electric current]
    2: a steady flow of a fluid (usually from natural causes); "the
       raft floated downstream on the current"; "he felt a stream of
       air"; "the hose ejected a stream of water" [syn: current,
       stream]
    3: dominant course (suggestive of running water) of successive
       events or ideas; "two streams of development run through
       American history"; "stream of consciousness"; "the flow of
       thought"; "the current of history" [syn: stream, flow,
       current]

Current \Cur"rent\, n. [Cf. F. courant. See Current, a. ]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. A flowing or passing; onward motion. Hence: A body of
      fluid moving continuously in a certain direction; a
      stream; esp., the swiftest part of it; as, a current of
      water or of air; that which resembles a stream in motion;
      as, a current of electricity.
      [1913 Webster]

            Two such silver currents, when they join,
            Do glorify the banks that bound them in. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            The surface of the ocean is furrowed by currents,
            whose direction . . . the navigator should know.
                                                  --Nichol.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. General course; ordinary procedure; progressive and
      connected movement; as, the current of time, of events, of
      opinion, etc.
      [1913 Webster]

   Current meter, an instrument for measuring the velocity,
      force, etc., of currents.

   Current mill, a mill driven by a current wheel.

   Current wheel, a wheel dipping into the water and driven by
      the current of a stream or by the ebb and flow of the
      tide.

   Syn: Stream; course. See Stream.
        [1913 Webster]

Current \Cur"rent\ (k?r"rent), a. [OE. currant, OF. curant,
   corant, p. pr. of curre, corre, F. courre, courir, to run,
   from L. currere; perh. akin to E. horse. Cf. Course,
   Concur, Courant, Coranto.]
   1. Running or moving rapidly. [Archaic]
      [1913 Webster]

            Like the current fire, that renneth
            Upon a cord.                          --Gower.
      [1913 Webster]

            To chase a creature that was current then
            In these wild woods, the hart with golden horns.
                                                  --Tennyson.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Now passing, as time; as, the current month.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Passing from person to person, or from hand to hand;
      circulating through the community; generally received;
      common; as, a current coin; a current report; current
      history.
      [1913 Webster]

            That there was current money in Abraham's time is
            past doubt.                           --Arbuthnot.
      [1913 Webster]

            Your fire-new stamp of honor is scarce current.
                                                  --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

            His current value, which is less or more as men have
            occasion for him.                     --Grew.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Commonly estimated or acknowledged.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. Fitted for general acceptance or circulation; authentic;
      passable.
      [1913 Webster]

            O Buckingham, now do I play the touch
            To try if thou be current gold indeed. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   Account current. See under Account.

   Current money, lawful money. --Abbott.
      [1913 Webster]

current

    The quantity of charge per unit time, measured
   in Amperes (Amps, A).  By historical convention, the sign of
   current is positive for currents flowing from positive to
   negative potential, but experience indicates that electrons
   are negatively charged and flow in the opposite direction.

   (1995-10-05)

CURRENT, merc. law. A term used to express present time; the current month; 
i.e. the present month. Price current, is the ordinary price at the time 
spoken of. A printed paper, containing such prices, is also called a price 
current. 
     2. Current, in another sense, signifies that which is readily received; 
as, current money.