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the, a park at the s end of manhattan, in new york city.
noun (pl) -teries

two or more primary cells connected together, usually in series, to provide a source of electric current
short for dry battery

another name for acc-mulator (sense 1)
a number of similar things occurring together: a battery of questions
(criminal law) unlawful beating or wounding of a person or mere touching in a hostile or offensive manner see also -ssault and battery
a fortified structure on which artillery is mounted
a group of guns, missile launchers, searchlights, or torpedo tubes of similar type or size operated as a single ent-ty
a small tactical unit of artillery usually consisting of two or more troops, each of two, three or four guns
(mainly brit)

a large group of cages for intensive rearing of poultry
(as modifier): battery hens

(psychol) a series of tests
(chess) two pieces of the same colour placed so that one can unmask an attack by the other by moving
the percussion section in an orchestra
(baseball) the pitcher and the catcher considered together
n.

1530s, “action of battering,” from middle french batterie, from old french baterie (12c.) “beating, thrashing, -ssault,” from batre “beat,” from latin battuere “beat” (see batter (v.)).

meaning shifted in middle french from “bombardment” (“heavy blows” upon city walls or fortresses) to “unit of artillery” (a sense recorded in english from 1550s). extension to “electrical cell” (1748, first used by ben franklin) is perhaps from the artillery sense via notion of “discharges” of electricity. in middle english, bateri meant only “forged metal ware.” in obsolete baseball jargon battery was the word for “pitcher and catcher” considered as a unit (1867, originally only the pitcher).

battery bat·ter·y (bāt’ə-rē)
n.

the act of beating or pounding.

an array of similar things intended for use together, such as achievement tests.

battery
(bāt’ə-rē)

a device containing an electric cell or a series of electric cells storing energy that can be converted into electrical power (usually in the form of direct current). common household batteries, such as those used in a flashlight, are usually made of dry cells (the chemicals producing the current are made into a paste). in other batteries, such as car batteries, these chemicals are in liquid form.

our living language : a battery stores chemical energy, which it converts to electrical energy. a typical battery, such as a car battery, is composed of an arrangement of galvanic cells. each cell contains two metal electrodes, separate from each other, immersed within an electrolyte containing both positive and negative ions. a chemical reaction between the electrodes and the electrolyte, similar to that found in electroplating, takes place, and the metals dissolve in the electrolyte, leaving electrons behind on the electrodes. however, the metals dissolve at different rates, so a greater number of electrons acc-mulate at one electrode (creating the negative electrode) than at the other electrode (which becomes the positive electrode). this gives rise to an electric potential between the electrodes, which are typically linked together in series and parallel to one another in order to provide the desired voltage at the battery terminals (12 volts, for example, for a car battery). the buildup of charge on the electrodes prevents the metals from dissolving further, but if the battery is hooked up to an electric circuit through which current may flow, electrons are drawn out of the negative electrodes and into the positive ones, reducing their charge and allowing further chemical reactions.

a device that produces an electric current by harnessing the chemical reactions that take place within its cells.