2. Hence, a desperate hazard or act; a state of being
submerged or overwhelmed with difficulties. [R.]
She was brought to that plunge, to conceal her
husband's murder or accuse her son. --Sir P.
Sidney.
And with thou not reach out a friendly arm, To raise
me from amidst this plunge of sorrows? --Addison.
3. The act of pitching or throwing one's self headlong or
violently forward, like an unruly horse.
4. Heavy and reckless betting in horse racing; hazardous
speculation. [Cant]
{Plunge bath}, an immersion by plunging; also, a large bath
in which the bather can wholly immerse himself.
{Plunge}, or {plunging}, {battery} (Elec.), a voltaic battery
so arranged that the plates can be plunged into, or
withdrawn from, the exciting liquid at pleasure.
2. (Law) The unlawful beating of another. It includes every
willful, angry and violent, or negligent touching of
another's person or clothes, or anything attached to his
person or held by him.
3. (Mil.)
(a) Any place where cannon or mortars are mounted, for
attack or defense.
(b) Two or more pieces of artillery in the field.
(c) A company or division of artillery, including the
gunners, guns, horses, and all equipments. In the
United States, a battery of flying artillery consists
usually of six guns.
{Barbette battery}. See {Barbette}.
{Battery d'enfilade}, or {Enfilading battery}, one that
sweeps the whole length of a line of troops or part of a
work.
{Battery en ['e]charpe}, one that plays obliquely.
{Battery gun}, a gun capable of firing a number, of shots
simultaneously or successively without stopping to load.
{Battery wagon}, a wagon employed to transport the tools and
materials for repair of the carriages, etc., of the
battery.
{In battery}, projecting, as a gun, into an embrasure or over
a parapet in readiness for firing.
{Masked battery}, a battery artificially concealed until
required to open upon the enemy.
{Out of battery}, or {From battery}, withdrawn, as a gun, to
a position for loading.
4. (Elec.)
(a) A number of coated jars (Leyden jars) so connected
that they may be charged and discharged
simultaneously.
(b) An apparatus for generating voltaic electricity.
Note: In the trough battery, copper and zinc plates,
connected in pairs, divide the trough into cells, which
are filled with an acid or oxidizing liquid; the effect
is exhibited when wires connected with the two
end-plates are brought together. In Daniell's battery,
the metals are zinc and copper, the former in dilute
sulphuric acid, or a solution of sulphate of zinc, the
latter in a saturated solution of sulphate of copper. A
modification of this is the common gravity battery, so
called from the automatic action of the two fluids,
which are separated by their specific gravities. In
Grove's battery, platinum is the metal used with zinc;
two fluids are used, one of them in a porous cell
surrounded by the other. In Bunsen's or the carbon
battery, the carbon of gas coke is substituted for the
platinum of Grove's. In Leclanch['e]'s battery, the
elements are zinc in a solution of ammonium chloride,
and gas carbon surrounded with manganese dioxide in a
porous cell. A secondary battery is a battery which
usually has the two plates of the same kind, generally
of lead, in dilute sulphuric acid, and which, when
traversed by an electric current, becomes charged, and
is then capable of giving a current of itself for a
time, owing to chemical changes produced by the
charging current. A storage battery is a kind of
secondary battery used for accumulating and storing the
energy of electrical charges or currents, usually by
means of chemical work done by them; an accumulator.
5. A number of similar machines or devices in position; an
apparatus consisting of a set of similar parts; as, a
battery of boilers, of retorts, condensers, etc.
6. (Metallurgy) A series of stamps operated by one motive
power, for crushing ores containing the precious metals.
--Knight.
7. The box in which the stamps for crushing ore play up and
down.
8. (Baseball) The pitcher and catcher together.