the.com/brownout
a blackout's cowardly cousin that dims the lights instead of killing them.
means A partial reduction in electrical power or voltage that causes lights to dim and equipment to falter, falling short of a full blackout.
from A 20th-century American coinage, built on the model of "blackout" — swapping "black" for "brown" to suggest a dimming rather than total darkness. "Blackout" itself dates to the early 1900s and gained wide use during wartime, when cities killed their lights to hide from bombers; "brownout" followed as its lesser sibling, naming the murky in-between when the power sags but never quite dies.
- voltage drop
- Intentional or accidental sag below normal supply levels
- utility tactic
- Grids dim power to dodge full blackouts
- device killer
- Low voltage can fry motors and electronics
- name origin
- Lights literally turn brownish-dim, not fully off
- pilot meaning
- Also dust clouds blinding helicopter pilots on landing
texas grid crisis 2021 — ercot rolling blackouts left 4.5 million without power during february winter storm
venezuela blackout 2019 — march 7 nationwide blackout affected 70% of the country for weeks