battery
noun
/ˈbætri/, /ˈbætəri/
(plural batteries)
Idioms
1 countable a device that is placed inside a car engine, clock, radio, etc. and that produces the electricity that makes it work to replace the batteries
a rechargeable battery
battery-powered/-operated
a car battery
The battery is flat (= it is no longer producing electricity).
With our product you get longer battery life.
The bicycle even has a built-in battery charger for a mobile phone.
Isolated farms used wind turbines to charge batteries.
a lithium/AA battery
2 uncountable electrical power that comes from a battery My phone ran out of battery, so I plugged it in to charge.
The display tells you how much battery is left.
3 countable battery (of something) a large number of things or people of the same type He faced a battery of questions.
a battery of reporters
Collocations
adjective
preposition
phrases
a battery of tests
4 countable (specialist) a number of large guns that are used together Collocations
adjective
(often used as an adjective) a large number of small cages that are joined together and are used for keeping chickens, etc. in on a farm
a battery hen
battery eggs
intensive battery farming methods
COMPARE free-range
6 uncountable (law) the crime of attacking somebody physically He was charged with battery after a fight at a night club.
Idioms
to get back your strength and energy by resting for a while
Word Origin
Middle English: from Old French baterie, from battre ‘to strike’, from Latin battuere. The original sense was ‘metal articles wrought by hammering’, later ‘a number of pieces of artillery used together’, which led to the meaning ‘a number of Leyden jars connected up so as to discharge simultaneously’ (mid 18th cent.), giving rise to sense (1). The more general meanings date from the late 19th cent.