1.
[syn: voltaic pile, pile, galvanic pile]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Pile \Pile\, n. [F. pile, L. pila a pillar, a pier or mole of
stone. Cf. Pillar.]
1. A mass of things heaped together; a heap; as, a pile of
stones; a pile of wood.
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2. A mass formed in layers; as, a pile of shot.
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3. A funeral pile; a pyre. --Dryden.
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4. A large building, or mass of buildings.
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The pile o'erlooked the town and drew the fight.
--Dryden.
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5. (Iron Manuf.) Same as Fagot, n., 2.
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6. (Elec.) A vertical series of alternate disks of two
dissimilar metals, as copper and zinc, laid up with disks
of cloth or paper moistened with acid water between them,
for producing a current of electricity; -- commonly called
Volta's pile, voltaic pile, or galvanic pile.
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Note: The term is sometimes applied to other forms of
apparatus designed to produce a current of electricity,
or as synonymous with battery; as, for instance, to an
apparatus for generating a current of electricity by
the action of heat, usually called a thermopile.
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7. [F. pile pile, an engraved die, L. pila a pillar.] The
reverse of a coin. See Reverse.
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Cross and pile. See under Cross.
Dry pile. See under Dry.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Voltaic \Vol*ta"ic\, a. [Cf. F. volta["i]que, It. voltaico.]
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1. Of or pertaining to Alessandro Volta, who first devised
apparatus for developing electric currents by chemical
action, and established this branch of electric science;
discovered by Volta; as, voltaic electricity.
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2. Of or pertaining to voltaism, or voltaic electricity; as,
voltaic induction; the voltaic arc.
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Note: See the Note under Galvanism.
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Voltaic arc, a luminous arc, of intense brilliancy, formed
between carbon points as electrodes by the passage of a
powerful voltaic current.
Voltaic battery, an apparatus variously constructed,
consisting of a series of plates or pieces of dissimilar
metals, as copper and zinc, arranged in pairs, and
subjected to the action of a saline or acid solution, by
which a current of electricity is generated whenever the
two poles, or ends of the series, are connected by a
conductor; a galvanic battery. See Battery, 4.
(b), and Note.
Voltaic circuit. See under Circuit.
Voltaic couple or Voltaic element, a single pair of the
connected plates of a battery.
Voltaic electricity. See the Note under Electricity.
Voltaic pile, a kind of voltaic battery consisting of
alternate disks of dissimilar metals, separated by
moistened cloth or paper. See 5th Pile.
Voltaic protection of metals, the protection of a metal
exposed to the corrosive action of sea water, saline or
acid liquids, or the like, by associating it with a metal
which is positive to it, as when iron is galvanized, or
coated with zinc.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
voltaic pile
n 1: battery consisting of voltaic cells arranged in series; the
earliest electric battery devised by Volta [syn: voltaic
pile, pile, galvanic pile]