- voltaic pile
- 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.
[1913 Webster]
2. A mass formed in layers; as, a pile of shot. [1913 Webster]
3. A funeral pile; a pyre. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
4. A large building, or mass of buildings. [1913 Webster]
The pile o'erlooked the town and drew the fight. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
5. (Iron Manuf.) Same as {Fagot}, n., 2. [1913 Webster]
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}. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
7. [F. pile pile, an engraved die, L. pila a pillar.] The reverse of a coin. See {Reverse}. [1913 Webster]
{Cross and pile}. See under {Cross}.
{Dry pile}. See under {Dry}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
