The subprime mortgage crisis was caused by hedge funds, banks, and insurance companies. The first two created mortgage-backed securities. The insurance companies covered them with credit default swaps. Demand for mortgages led to an asset bubble in housing.
The field of dielectrics is a branch of physics that covers how insulating materials separate different electrical charges in a capacitor. A capacitor is a device with two metal plates of opposite charges, with a dielectric insulating material in between the keeps the charges separate.
dielectric strength. noun, Electricity. 1. the maximum voltage that can be applied to a given material without causing it to break down, usually expressed in volts or kilovolts per unit of thickness. Compare breakdown voltage. Examples from the Web for dielectric strength.