absolute, ultimate
considerable, enormous, tremendous
real
The emperor held no real power.

limited
arbitrary
economic, legal, legislative, political
corporate
executive
He sits on the board but has no executive power.

veto
popular
secular
federal
imperial
higher
belief in a higher power

come to, rise to
When did this government come to power?

assume, gain, get, seize, take
The prince assumed power in his father's place.

return to
restore sb to, return sb to
have, hold
The court has no power to order a psychiatric examination of the child's parents.
They held power for 18 years.

share
exercise, use, wield
demonstrate, show
abuse
confer, give sb, grant sb
certain powers that were granted to the government

limit
lack
fall from, lose
They fell from power in 1992.

give up, relinquish, renounce
delegate, devolve (esp. BrE)
Some states delegate police power to municipalities.

be concentrated in (the hands of sb/sth), flow from sb/sth, lie with sb/sth, rest with sb/sth
The real legislative power still rests with the lower chamber.

struggle
Who will get the upper hand in this power struggle?

relations, structure
base
The party's power base is in the industrial north of the country.

broker

in power
the party in power

in sb's power
They held us in their power.

power of
the power of veto

power over
The government has limited legal powers over television.

abuse of power
the balance of power
The war brought about a shift in the balance of power.

a bid for power
the exercise of power
a position of power
the father's position of power and influence in the home

the power behind the throne (= the person who is really in control)
People say that the First Lady is the power behind the throne.

a transfer of power
the transfer of power from a military to a civilian government

air, combat, military, naval, sea (esp. BrE)
an increase in China's air power

fire
weapons with enormous fire power

bargaining
computing, processing
healing
the healing power of sleep

buying, earning, purchasing
staying
Having served in four governments, he has the greatest staying power of any politician today.

special
magic, magical, mystical, psychic, supernatural
They believe he has supernatural powers.

have, possess
use
develop
increase, limit, reduce
lack
lose
Religion is rapidly losing its power to shape our lives.

underestimate
Don't underestimate my powers of persuasion.

beyond sb/sth's power
a task still beyond any computer's power

in sb's power, within sb's power
I'm afraid it's not within my power to help you.

through the power of
He wants to change the world through the power of prayer.

powers as
a tribute to his powers as a teacher

power of
her powers of observation
I lost my power of speech for a while after the accident.

at the height of your powers, at the peak of your powers, at the zenith of your powers
In 1946 Dalí was at the peak of his powers.

do all in your power, do everything in your power
He did everything in his power to find us somewhere to live.

great, major
world
foreign
allied, enemy
occupying
victorious
European, Western, etc.
major European powers such as France and Germany

colonial, imperial, industrial, naval

awesome, great, real, tremendous
It was a performance of great power.

raw
the raw power of their music

destructive, terrible
the destructive power of a hurricane

star (esp. AmE)
She exudes star power whenever she's on screen.

full
The plane was still climbing at full power.

reduced
The transmitter is operating on reduced power.

electric, electrical, hydroelectric, nuclear, solar, steam, tidal, water, wind

generate, produce
They use these streams to generate power for the mill.

provide (sb/sth with), supply (sb/sth with)
This wheel provides the power to the cutting machine.

use
harness
turn on
cut off, turn off

drive sth, run sth
Wind power is used to drive the machinery.

go off, go out (esp. AmE)
She was in the elevator when the power went off.

cable, grid, line, point (BrE), source, supply, system
tool
Power tools make many jobs so much easier.

plant, station (BrE)
worker
cut (BrE), failure, outage (AmE)
consumption

power for
The generator supplies power for lighting,

a source of power