battery 
\e 
Plan and Section of Mortar-battery for four mortars. 
P parapet! E, E. epaulments: T T, teneplein; F, F, ditches to battery, 
provide earth for epaulments ; />/, Af, mortar-platforms ; C B , section - 
onC/). 
478 
battery-head (bat'er-i-hed), . The extreme 
end of a railroad embankment over which 
earth is tipped during the process of construc- 
tion. 
battery-Shooting (bat'er-i-sh6"tuig), n. The 
shooting of wild fowl from a battery. See bat- 
tery, 14. 
It would he far hetter, however, to decide upon some 
plan of action by which battery-shooting could he wholly 
done away with. Forest and Stream, XXIII. 441. 
battery-wagon (bat'6r-i-wag"on), n. Milit., a 
vehicle accompanying each field-battery to car- 
ry tools, paints, oils, veterinary supplies, etc., 
to be used for repairs and the service of the 
into a spiral form, and in the improved Faure form covered 
_ operation. See operation. 
bat-tick (bat'tik), n. A small wingless tick-like 
perpendicular to the interior crest of the enemy's works : j D8ec t o f the Order Diptera and family Nycteri- 
so called in contradistinction to a direct battery. Open j,-^ (^jeh gee ) : so called because it infests 
bv^a^pet^iunge-battery! an electric" battery so bats. The name is given to all the species of 
arranged that the metals can be removed from the liquid the family. 
when not in use.- Raised battery, a battery whose terre- T, a ttilt battillt, . Variant spellings of battle^. 
Vl ^*m S *^ti^K^ Batting (bat'tag), H. [Verbal n. of bat, r 11. 
nrefronfaSiienfor reentrant angle of a fortification.- The act or process of washing or smoothing 
Reverse battery, a battery which fires directly or oh- ijnen with a bat. 2. The process of beating 
liqtiely upon the rear of a work or line of troops. KicO- raw co tton with hazel- or holly-twigs, on a frame 
Sn"U: 1 ?^{ion a so e tha ( t h the proi^'cSgra^andbound made of cords, for the purpose of opening the 
along the surface'of the ground or water. Smooth-bore matted locks, or of beating out impurities. 3. 
guns firing spherical projectiles are most effective for Cotton or wool prepared in thick but light mat- 
ricochet flre. Siege-battery, battery for siege opera- t d greets for quilts or bed-covers, the quilting 
tions. Such batteries are either fixed, comprising siege- >* u ^ ., na h ' f ft,,*/, _4 
guns and mortars of the heaviest caliber and largest size, of garments, etc. Also called Oat, Dam. 4. 
or movable, consisting of field-guns and small mortars. The act or manner ot using a bat in a game ot 
Storage battery, or secondary battery, in elect., a com- jj a u . ag their batting was good, 
bination of secondary cells or accumulators which when bj^jngJIjiock (bat'ing-blok), n. In ceram., a 
aT a" smfr'cf'ofTn electrical curren^The^lRnteTeu'on- block of wet plaster upon which clay is flattened 
sists essentially of two plates of metallic lead (C,C"> rolled out by a batter before it is shaped on the 
potter's wheel or by a mold and templet. See 
batter*, 3. 
batting-machine (bat'ing-ma-shen*), n. A 
machine in which cotton taken from the wil- 
lowing-machine is scutched, blown, and lapped 
to prepare it for the carding-machine. 
batting-Staff (bat'ing-staf), n. [Cf. battler* 
and batlei.'] A small mallet sometimes used 
in laundries for beating linen ; a beetle, 
battish (bat'ish), a. [< baft + -ts/J 1 .] Of, per- 
taining to, or resembling a bat. [Kare.] 
She clasp'd his limbs, by impious labour tired, 
With battish wings. 
Vernon, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., viii. 
battle 1 (bat'l), n. [Early mod. E. also battel (a 
spelling still often used archaically, as in wager 
of battel). < ME. batel, batelle, batayle, bataite, 
bataille, < OF. bataille = Pr. Pg. batalha = Sp. 
batalla = It. battaglia, < LL. battalia, battualia, 
the fighting and fencing exercises of soldiers and 
gladiators, < battere, L. battuere, batuere, beat, 
fight, fence: see batter* and bate'-.'} 1. A fight, 
hostile encounter, or engagement between op- 
posing forces on land or sea; an important and 
systematic engagement between independent 
armies or fleets. Actions and affairs are engagements 
of less magnitude than battles, and are often unpremedi- 
tated, the result of surprises, or the meeting of armed re- 
connoitering parties, though the latter is usually termed 
a skirmish. Battles are classed as parallel or oblique, ac- 
cording to the relative positions of the contending armies 
in order of battle ; strategic, when fought upon an objec- 
tive point selected in planning a campaign, as were the 
battles of Marengo and Nashville ; general, when the 
whole or the greater part of both armies are engaged ; 
partial, when only brigades, divisions, or army corps are 
brought into action ; offensive, when an army seeks the 
enemy and attacks him wherever he is encountered ; de- 
fensive, when a position is selected with the design of 
awaiting and repelling the enemy ; mixed or defensive- 
offensive, when an army selects and occupies a position in 
advance, awaits the approach of the enemy, and at the 
rper moment moves out to engage him. 
An encounter between two persons ; a duel 
or single combat. 3. A fight or encounter be- 
tween animals, especially when pitted against 
each other for the amusement of spectators. 
If we draw lots, he [Caesar] speeds : 
His cocks do win the battle still of mine, 
When it is all to nought ; and his quails ever 
Beat mine, inhoop'd, at odds. 
Shak., A. and C., ii. 3. 
4. Warfare ; hostile action ; actual conflict 
with enemies: as, wounds received or honors 
gained in battle. 
Who is this King of glory ? The Lord strong and mighty, 
the Lord mighty in battle. Ps. xxiv. 8. 
5. Any contest or conflict; struggle for mas- 
tery or victory : as, the battle of hf e. 
Of the six genera, Drosera has been incomparably the 
most successful in the battle for life ; and a large part of 
its success may be attributed to its manner of catching 
insects. Darwin, Insectiv. Plants, p. 357. 
6f. An army prepared for or engaged in fight. 
Fire answers fire, and through their paly flames 
Each battle sees the other's umbeiM face. 
Shot., Hen. V., iv. (cho.). 
Storage or Secondary Cell, or Accumulator, Plante form. 
C, C' f lead plates rolled in a spiral and separated by pieces of rub- 
ber; G, H, wires from the primary or charging battery ; A, A', poles 
of secondary cell. 
with red oxid of lead ; the primary current with which the 
cell is charged (by the wires G and H) serves to peroxi- 
dize and reduce this coating, respectively, on the sheets 
connected with the two poles ; the chemical energy thus 
stored up is given back In the form of a continuous and 
regular electric current when the poles of the charged cell 
(A, A) are connected and the chemical action is reversed. 
Sunken battery, a battery in which the sole of the 
embrasure is on a level with the ground, and the platform 
is consequently sunk below it. (Tidball.) The parapet is 
formed from the earth excavated from the site constitut- 
ing the platform. Half-sunken battery, a battery of 
which the parapet is formed partly from earth taken 
from the inside or terreplein, and partly from a ditch 
outside. Urticating batteries, in tool., thenematocysts 
or thread-cells of hydroid polyps. Water-battery, an 
electric battery in which the liquid employed is water. It 
is useless as a source of a current, because of the high re- 
sistance of the water, but, by having a large number of zinc- 
copper couples, a high and constant difference of poten- 
tials is obtained at the two poles ; it is thus valuable in 
many electrostatic experiments. 
battery-box (bat'er-i-boks), n. A square chest 
or box, filled with earth, used for making para- 
pets for batteries where gabions or sand-bags 
are not to be had. Farrow, Mil. Eneyc. 
battery-gun (bat'er-i-gun), n. A machine-gun 
(whicn see). 
battle 
7f. A body of forces, or division of an army: 
a battalion. 
The king divided his army into three battles, whereof the 
vanguard only with wings came to light. Bacon. 
Then the Battels were staled, and set in such order as 
they should fight. 
J. Brende, tr. of Quintus Curtius, ill. 32. 
8f. More specifically (a) The main or middle 
body of an army or fleet, as distinguished 
from the van and rear. 
Angus led the avant-guard, himself followed with the 
battle a good distance behind, and after came the arrier. 
Sir J. Hayward. 
The centre, or battle as it was called, consisting of sixty- 
three galleys, was led by John of Austria. Prescott. 
The van outsailed before, by him had run 
E'en as lie stayed for us, and now indeed 
Of Ins main battle must he take good heed. 
William Morrin, Earthly Paradise, I. 17. 
(6) That portion of the army, wherever placed 
and of whatever consisting, which is regarded 
as of main importance. 
The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called the battle, 
and on it alone depended the fate of every action. 
Robertson. 
9f. A formidable array similar to an army in 
battle order. 
On his bow-back he [the boar] hath a battle set 
Of bristly pikes, that ever threat his foes. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 61fl. 
Battle-range, the range best suited to firing on an ene- 
my's line of battle. Upon the rear sights of the latest 
military rifles the elevation corresponding to that range 
is designated by stamping the letter "B" opposite the 
battle-range elevation. This range is 262 yards, corre- 
sponding to a continuous dangerous space of 337 yards, 
for the Springfield rifle, caliber .45, used against foot- 
troops. Battle royal, (a) A battle with flsts or cudgels, 
in which more than two combatants are engaged ; a free 
fight, (b) A fight of game-cocks, in which more than two 
are engaged. Drawn battle, a battle in which neither 
party gains the victory.- Order of battle. See order. 
Pitched battle, a battle in which the armies are pre- 
viously drawn up in form, with a regular disposition of the 
forces. To give battle, to attack an enemy. To Join 
battle, properly, to meet the attack ; commonly, to begin 
a battle. Trial by battle. Same as wager of battle. 
Wager of battle or battel, in law, a species of trial for 
the decision of controversies used among the rude mili- 
tary peoples of Europe. It was introduced into England 
by William the Conqueror, and practised in three cases 
only : in the court martial, or court of chivalry or honor ; 
in appeals of felony ; and in issues joined upon a writ of 
right. The contest was held before the judges on a piece 
of ground inclosed, and the combatants were bound to 
fight till the stars appeared, unless the death or defeat 
of one party sooner decided the contest. The weapons 
used were batons or staves an ell long. Women, priests, 
men above sixty, and lame and blind persons might appear 
by champions. Though long fallen into desuetude, it was 
a valid and legal mode of trial in England down to 1818, 
and was then formally abolished in consequence of the 
demand by the defendant in a suit for this mode of ar- 
bitrament, and of the fact that this demand could not 
legally be denied him. =Syn. 1. Battle, Engagement, Con- 
flict, Fight, Combat, Contest, Action. Battle is a general 
term, and the most common. It is the appropriate word 
for great engagements: as, the battle of Waterloo. A battle 
may last merely a few hours or for days : as, the battle of 
Gettysburg lasted three days. Engagement is in techni- 
cal military usage practically equivalent to battle, but it is 
a less forcible word. Conflict, literally, a clashing together, 
is a strong word, implying fierce physical encounter. Fight 
lias the energy of a monosyllable ; it denotes actual conflict. 
A man may take part in a battle without actually fighting. 
A battle may include many fights : as, the fight at the flag- 
staff in the battle of the Alma ; or it may itself be described 
as a fight. Combat, like conflict, is a word of more dignity 
than fight ; it is by its history suggestive of a struggle be- 
tween two, as persons, animals, squadrons, armies. Con- 
test is a very general word, of uncertain strength, but often 
joined with a strong adjective : as, a stubborn contest. 
An action is a minor or incidental act of war, a single act 
of fighting : as, the whole action lasted but an hour. All 
these words apply equally to operations by land or by sea. 
See encounter and strife. 
The distant battle fiash'd and rung. 
Tennyson, Two Voices. 
Two thousand of the enemy were slain and taken in the 
engagement, which lasted only a short time. 
Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., i. 15. 
About 100,000 men were engaged, and the conflict raged 
with great fury from daylight till dark. 
World's Progress, Antietam. 
My lord is weary with the fight before, 
And they will fall upon him unawares. 
Tennyson, Oeraint. 
Numerous were the combats which took place between 
the high-mettled cavaliers on both sides, who met on the 
level arena, as on a tilting ground. 
Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., i. 15. 
The whole plan of the Italian campaign had been based 
upon the assumption that the contest between the two 
great Teutonic States would prove a not unequal one. 
E. Dicey, Victor Emmanuel, p. 284. 
How many gentlemen have you lost in this action ? 
Shak., Much Ado, i. 1. 
battle 1 (bat'l), v. ; pret. and pp. battled, ppr. 
battling. [< ME. batailen, bataillen, < OF. ba- 
tailler, < bataille, a battle: see battle 1 , n."] I. 
intrans. 1. To join or engage in battle; con- 
tend in fight; fight: as, to battle with wolves. 
