cathode

2 definitions found

cathode - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Cathode \Cath"ode\, n. [Gr. ? descent; ? down + ? way.]
     (Physics)
     The part of a voltaic battery by which the electric current
     leaves substances through which it passes, or the surface at
     which the electric current passes out of the electrolyte; the
     negative pole; -- opposed to anode. --Faraday.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Cathode ray (Phys.), a kind of ray generated at the cathode
        in a vacuum tube, by the electrical discharge.
        [1913 Webster]

cathode - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  cathode
      n 1: a negatively charged electrode that is the source of
           electrons entering an electrical device [ant: anode]
      2: the positively charged terminal of a voltaic cell or storage
         battery that supplies current [ant: anode]