Adjacent Words

Battery definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BAT'TERY, n. [See Beat.]
1. The act of battering, or beating.
2. The instrument of battering.
3. In the military art, a parapet thrown up to cover the gunners and others employed about them, from the enemy's shot, with the guns employed. Thus, to erect a battery, is to form the parapet and mount the guns. The term is applied also to a number of guns ranged in order for battering, and to mortars used for a like purpose.
Cross batteries are two batteries which play athwart each other, forming an angle upon the object battered.
Battery d'enfilade, is one which scours or sweeps the whole line or length.
Battery en echarpe, is that which plays obliquely.
Battery de revers, is that which plays upon the enemy's back.
Camerade battery, is when several guns play at the same time upon one place.
4. In law, the unlawful beating of another. The least violence or the touching of another in anger is a battery.
5. In electrical apparatus and experiments,a number of coated jars placed in such a manner, that they may be charged at the same time, and discharged in the same manner. This is called an electrical battery.
6. Galvanic battery, a pile or series of plates of copper and zink, or of any substances suspectable of galvanic action.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: group of guns or missile launchers operated together at one place
2: a device that produces electricity; may have several primary or secondary cells arranged in parallel or series [syn: battery, electric battery]
3: a collection of related things intended for use together; "took a battery of achievement tests"
4: a unit composed of the pitcher and catcher
5: a series of stamps operated in one mortar for crushing ores [syn: battery, stamp battery]
6: the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area rather than hit a specific target; "they laid down a barrage in front of the advancing troops"; "the shelling went on for hours without pausing" [syn: barrage, barrage fire, battery, bombardment, shelling]
7: an assault in which the assailant makes physical contact [syn: battery, assault and battery]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -teries) Etymology: Anglo-French baterie, from batre to beat, from Latin battuere Date: 1531 1. a. the act of battering or beating b. an offensive touching or use of force on a person without the person's consent — compare assault 2a 2. [Middle French batterie, from battre to beat] a. a grouping of artillery pieces for tactical purposes b. the guns of a warship 3. an artillery unit in the army equivalent to a company 4. a. a combination of apparatus for producing a single electrical effect b. a group of two or more cells connected together to furnish electric current; also a single cell that furnishes electric current <a flashlight battery> c. plural level of energy or enthusiasm <needs a vacation to recharge her batteries> 5. a. a number of similar articles, items, or devices arranged, connected, or used together ; set, series <a battery of tests> b. a usually impressive or imposing group ; array 6. the position of readiness of a gun for firing 7. the pitcher and catcher of a baseball team

U.S. Military Dictionary

(*) 1. Tactical and administrative artillery unit or subunit corresponding to a company or similar unit in other branches of the Army. 2. All guns, torpedo tubes, searchlights, or missile launchers of the same size or caliber or used for the same purpose, either installed in one ship or otherwise operating as an entity.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 a usu. portable container of a cell or cells carrying an electric charge, as a source of current. 2 (often attrib.) esp. Brit. a series of cages for the intensive breeding and rearing of poultry or cattle. 3 a set of similar units of equipment, esp. connected. 4 a series of tests, esp. psychological. 5 a a fortified emplacement for heavy guns. b an artillery unit of guns, men, and vehicles. 6 Law an act inflicting unlawful personal violence on another (see ASSAULT). 7 Baseball the pitcher and the catcher. Etymology: F batterie f. batre, battre strike f. L battuere

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Plunge Plunge, n. 1. The act of thrusting into or submerging; a dive, leap, rush, or pitch into, or as into, water; as, to take the water with a plunge. 2. Hence, a desperate hazard or act; a state of being submerged or overwhelmed with difficulties. [R.] She was brought to that plunge, to conceal her husband's murder or accuse her son. --Sir P. Sidney. And with thou not reach out a friendly arm, To raise me from amidst this plunge of sorrows? --Addison. 3. The act of pitching or throwing one's self headlong or violently forward, like an unruly horse. 4. Heavy and reckless betting in horse racing; hazardous speculation. [Cant] Plunge bath, an immersion by plunging; also, a large bath in which the bather can wholly immerse himself. Plunge, or plunging, battery (Elec.), a voltaic battery so arranged that the plates can be plunged into, or withdrawn from, the exciting liquid at pleasure.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Battery Bat"ter*y, n.; pl. Batteries. [F. batterie, fr. battre. See Batter, v. t.] 1. The act of battering or beating. 2. (Law) The unlawful beating of another. It includes every willful, angry and violent, or negligent touching of another's person or clothes, or anything attached to his person or held by him. 3. (Mil.) (a) Any place where cannon or mortars are mounted, for attack or defense. (b) Two or more pieces of artillery in the field. (c) A company or division of artillery, including the gunners, guns, horses, and all equipments. In the United States, a battery of flying artillery consists usually of six guns. Barbette battery. See Barbette. Battery d'enfilade, or Enfilading battery, one that sweeps the whole length of a line of troops or part of a work. Battery en ['e]charpe, one that plays obliquely. Battery gun, a gun capable of firing a number, of shots simultaneously or successively without stopping to load. Battery wagon, a wagon employed to transport the tools and materials for repair of the carriages, etc., of the battery. In battery, projecting, as a gun, into an embrasure or over a parapet in readiness for firing. Masked battery, a battery artificially concealed until required to open upon the enemy. Out of battery, or From battery, withdrawn, as a gun, to a position for loading. 4. (Elec.) (a) A number of coated jars (Leyden jars) so connected that they may be charged and discharged simultaneously. (b) An apparatus for generating voltaic electricity. Note: In the trough battery, copper and zinc plates, connected in pairs, divide the trough into cells, which are filled with an acid or oxidizing liquid; the effect is exhibited when wires connected with the two end-plates are brought together. In Daniell's battery, the metals are zinc and copper, the former in dilute sulphuric acid, or a solution of sulphate of zinc, the latter in a saturated solution of sulphate of copper. A modification of this is the common gravity battery, so called from the automatic action of the two fluids, which are separated by their specific gravities. In Grove's battery, platinum is the metal used with zinc; two fluids are used, one of them in a porous cell surrounded by the other. In Bunsen's or the carbon battery, the carbon of gas coke is substituted for the platinum of Grove's. In Leclanch['e]'s battery, the elements are zinc in a solution of ammonium chloride, and gas carbon surrounded with manganese dioxide in a porous cell. A secondary battery is a battery which usually has the two plates of the same kind, generally of lead, in dilute sulphuric acid, and which, when traversed by an electric current, becomes charged, and is then capable of giving a current of itself for a time, owing to chemical changes produced by the charging current. A storage battery is a kind of secondary battery used for accumulating and storing the energy of electrical charges or currents, usually by means of chemical work done by them; an accumulator. 5. A number of similar machines or devices in position; an apparatus consisting of a set of similar parts; as, a battery of boilers, of retorts, condensers, etc. 6. (Metallurgy) A series of stamps operated by one motive power, for crushing ores containing the precious metals. --Knight. 7. The box in which the stamps for crushing ore play up and down. 8. (Baseball) The pitcher and catcher together.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(batteries) 1. Batteries are small devices that provide the power for electrical items such as radios and children's toys. The shavers come complete with batteries. ...a battery-operated cassette player. ...rechargeable batteries. N-COUNT 2. A car battery is a rectangular box containing acid that is found in a car engine. It provides the electricity needed to start the car. ...a car with a flat battery. N-COUNT 3. A battery of equipment such as guns, lights, or computers is a large set of it kept together in one place. They stopped beside a battery of abandoned guns. ...batteries of spotlights set up on rooftops. N-COUNT: usu N of n 4. A battery of people or things is a very large number of them. ...a battery of journalists and television cameras... N-COUNT: N of n 5. A battery of tests is a set of tests that is used to assess a number of different aspects of something, such as your health. We give a battery of tests to each patient. N-COUNT: usu sing, usu N of n 6. Battery farming is a system of breeding chickens and hens in which large numbers of them are kept in small cages, and used for their meat and eggs. (BRIT) ...battery hens being raised in dark, cramped conditions. ADJ: ADJ n 7. to recharge your batteries: see recharge see also assault and battery

Moby Thesaurus

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