volta's pile

1 definition found

volta's pile - 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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