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.
Two such silver currents, when they join,
Do glorify the banks that bound them in.
Shak.
The surface of the ocean is furrowed by currents, whose direction . . . the navigator should know.
Nichol.
2. General course; ordinary procedure; progressive and connected movement; as, the current of time, of events, of opinion, etc.
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.
Cur"rent*ly, adv. In a current manner; generally; commonly; as, it is currently believed.
Cur"rent*ness, n. 1. The quality of being current; currency; circulation; general reception.