'Volta's pile' definitions:

Definition of 'Volta's pile'

From: GCIDE
  • 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]