battery
battery definition
bat·tery (bat′ər ē)
noun pl. batteries -·ter·ies
- the act of battering, beating, or pounding
- machinery used in battering
- a group of similar things arranged, connected, or used together; set or series; array a battery of microphones, a battery of school achievement tests
- Chiefly Brit. a series of cages or other restrictive compartments used as to confine hens for intensive laying: often used attributively
- ☆ Baseball the pitcher and the catcher
- Elec.
- a connected group of electrochemical cells that store electric charges and generate direct current
- a single cell of this type
- a similar nuclear, solar, or thermal device that stores and generates electrical energy
- Law any illegal beating or touching of another person, either directly or with an object
- Mil.
- an emplacement for heavy guns or a fortification equipped with such guns
- a set of heavy guns, rockets, etc.
- the personnel who operate such guns: usually the basic unit of artillery, corresponding to an infantry company
- U.S. Navy a group of guns of the same caliber or used for the same purpose on a warship an antiaircraft battery
- Music the percussion instruments of an orchestra
Etymology: Fr batterie < OFr battre: see batter
battery Idioms
in battery
in firing position after recovery from the recoil of a previous discharge: said of a heavy gun
the Battery
a park in New York City, at the S tip of Manhattan: 21 acres
also called Battery Park
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Comments
Improve this definition.
Browse dictionary definitions near battery
Share on Facebook