{ } pos>n. [ F. abatis, abattis, mass of things beaten or cut down, fr. abattre. See Abate. ] (Fort.) A means of defense formed by felled trees, the ends of whose branches are sharpened and directed outwards, or against the enemy. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Abattoirs [ F., fr. abattre to beat down. See Abate. ] A public slaughterhouse for cattle, sheep, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Prob. through Pg. for Canarese bhatta rice in the husk. ] Extra pay; esp. an extra allowance to an English officer serving in India. Whitworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Hind. ba&tsdot_;&tsdot_;a. ] Rate of exchange; also, the discount on uncurrent coins. [ India ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Batful. ] Capable of cultivation; fertile; productive; fattening. [ Obs. ] Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. bataillant, p. pr. See Battle, v. i. ] [ Obs. ] Prepared for battle; combatant; warlike. Spenser. -- n. A combatant. Shelton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OF. bataillos, fr. bataille. See Battle, n. ] Arrayed for battle; fit or eager for battle; warlike. [ Obs. ] “In battailous aspect.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. battalia battle, a body of troops. See Battle, n. ] 1. Order of battle; disposition or arrangement of troops (brigades, regiments, battalions, etc.), or of a naval force, for action. [ 1913 Webster ]

A drawing up the armies in battalia. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An army in battle array; also, the main battalia or body. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. bataillon, fr. It. battaglione. See Battalia. ] 1. A body of troops; esp. a body of troops or an army in battle array. [ archaic ] “The whole battalion views.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. (Mil.) An infantry command of two or more companies, which is the tactical unit of the infantry, or the smallest command which is self-supporting upon the battlefield, and also the unit in which the strength of the infantry of an army is expressed. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In the United States army, since April 29, 1898, a battalion consists of four companies, and three battalions form a regiment. The term is also applied to two or more batteries of artillery combined into a single command. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. To form into battalions. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Obs. form. of Battle. ] (Old Eng. Law) A single combat; as, trial by battel. See Wager of battel, under Wager. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Of uncertain etymology. ] Provisions ordered from the buttery; also, the charges for them; -- only in the pl., except when used adjectively. [ Univ. of Oxford, Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To be supplied with provisions from the buttery. [ Univ. of Oxford, Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. Batful, Batten, v. i. ] To make fertile. [ Obs. ] “To battel barren land.” Ray. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Fertile; fruitful; productive. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A battel soil for grain, for pasture good. Fairfax. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Battened p. pr. & vb. n. Battening. ] [ See Batful. ] 1. To make fat by plenteous feeding; to fatten. “Battening our flocks.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fertilize or enrich, as land. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To grow fat; to grow fat in ease and luxury; to glut one's self. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

The pampered monarch lay battening in ease. Garth. [ 1913 Webster ]

Skeptics, with a taste for carrion, who batten on the hideous facts in history, -- persecutions, inquisitions. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. bâton stick, staff. See Baton. ] A strip of sawed stuff, or a scantling; as, (a) pl. (Com. & Arch.) Sawed timbers about 7 by 2 1/2 inches and not less than 6 feet long. Brande & C. (b) (Naut.) A strip of wood used in fastening the edges of a tarpaulin to the deck, also around masts to prevent chafing. (c) A long, thin strip used to strengthen a part, to cover a crack, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Batten door (Arch.), a door made of boards of the whole length of the door, secured by battens nailed crosswise. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To furnish or fasten with battens. [ 1913 Webster ]

To batten down, to fasten down with battens, as the tarpaulin over the hatches of a ship during a storm. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. battant. See Batter, v. t. ] The movable bar of a loom, which strikes home or closes the threads of a woof. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Arch.) Furring done with small pieces nailed directly upon the wall. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Battered p. pr. & vb. n. Battering. ] [ OE. bateren, OF. batre, F. battre, fr. LL. battere, for L. batuere to strike, beat; of unknown origin. Cf. Abate, Bate to abate. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To beat with successive blows; to beat repeatedly and with violence, so as to bruise, shatter, or demolish; as, to batter a wall or rampart. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To wear or impair as if by beating or by hard usage. “Each battered jade.” Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Metallurgy) To flatten (metal) by hammering, so as to compress it inwardly and spread it outwardly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. batere, batire; cf. OF. bateure, bature, a beating. See Batter, v. t. ] 1. A semi-liquid mixture of several ingredients, as, flour, eggs, milk, etc., beaten together and used in cookery. King. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Paste of clay or loam. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Printing) A bruise on the face of a plate or of type in the form. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A backward slope in the face of a wall or of a bank; receding slope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Batter rule, an instrument consisting of a rule or frame, and a plumb line, by which the batter or slope of a wall is regulated in building. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. (Arch.) To slope gently backward. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The one who wields the bat in baseball; the one whose turn it is at bat; formerly called the batsman. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

adj. 1. In deplorable condition; as, the battered old Ford station wagon.
Syn. -- beat-up, beaten-up, bedraggled, broken-down, dilapidated, ramshackle, tumble-down, unsound. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. Hit or pounded repeatedly and violently with heavy blows; as, a battered old car; antomyn of unbattered. [ Narrower terms: buffeted; storm-tossed, tempest-tossed, tempest-tost, tempest-swept ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. Damaged especially by hard usage. his battered old hat [ WordNet 1.5 ]

4. beaten repeatedly; -- of people; as, a battered child; the battered woman syndrome; a battered wife.
Syn. -- beaten. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who, or that which, batters. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the act or process of subjecting to strong repeated blows.
Syn. -- banging. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. (Mil.) An engine used in ancient times to beat down the walls of besieged places. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It was a large beam, with a head of iron, which was sometimes made to resemble the head of a ram. It was suspended by ropes to a beam supported by posts, and so balanced as to swing backward and forward, and was impelled by men against the wall. Grose. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A blacksmith's hammer, suspended, and worked horizontally. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Mil.) A train of artillery for siege operations. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Batteries [ F. batterie, fr. battre. See Batter, v. t. ] 1. The act of battering or beating. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 écharpe, 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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 Leclanché'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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Metallurgy) A series of stamps operated by one motive power, for crushing ores containing the precious metals. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The box in which the stamps for crushing ore play up and down. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Baseball) The pitcher and catcher together. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of one who bats; the management of a bat in playing games of ball. Mason. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Cotton in sheets, prepared for use in making quilts, etc.; as, cotton batting. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Fertile. See Battel, a. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bataille, bataile, F. bataille battle, OF., battle, battalion, fr. L. battalia, battualia, the fighting and fencing exercises of soldiers and gladiators, fr. batuere to strike, beat. Cf. Battalia, 1st Battel, and see Batter, v. t. ] 1. A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; an engagement; a combat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A struggle; a contest; as, the battle of life. [ 1913 Webster ]

The whole intellectual battle that had at its center the best poem of the best poet of that day. H. Morley. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A division of an army; a battalion. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The king divided his army into three battles. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called the battle, and on it alone depended the fate of every action. Robertson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The main body, as distinct from the van and rear; battalia. [ Obs. ] Hayward. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Battle is used adjectively or as the first part of a self-explaining compound; as, battle brand, a “brand” or sword used in battle; battle cry; battlefield; battle ground; battle array; battle song. [ 1913 Webster ]

Battle piece, a painting, or a musical composition, representing a battle. --
Battle royal. (a) A fight between several gamecocks, where the one that stands longest is the victor. Grose. (b) A contest with fists or cudgels in which more than two are engaged; a mêlée. Thackeray. --
Drawn battle, one in which neither party gains the victory. --
To give battle, to attack an enemy. --
To join battle, to meet the attack; to engage in battle. --
Pitched battle, one in which the armies are previously drawn up in form, with a regular disposition of the forces. --
Wager of battle. See under Wager, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Conflict; encounter; contest; action. Battle, Combat, Fight, Engagement. These words agree in denoting a close encounter between contending parties. Fight is a word of less dignity than the others. Except in poetry, it is more naturally applied to the encounter of a few individuals, and more commonly an accidental one; as, a street fight. A combat is a close encounter, whether between few or many, and is usually premeditated. A battle is commonly more general and prolonged. An engagement supposes large numbers on each side, engaged or intermingled in the conflict. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Battled p. pr. & vb. n. Battling. ] [ F. batailler, fr. bataille. See Battle, n. ] To join in battle; to contend in fight; as, to battle over theories. [ 1913 Webster ]

To meet in arms, and battle in the plain. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To assail in battle; to fight. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. (Mil.) A kind of broadax formerly used as an offensive weapon. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. p. Embattled. [ Poetic ] Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. batyldour. A corrupted form of uncertain origin; cf. Sp. batallador a great combatant, he who has fought many battles, Pg. batalhador, Pr. batalhador, warrior, soldier, fr. L. battalia; or cf. Pr. batedor batlet, fr. batre to beat, fr. L. batuere. See Battle, n. ] 1. An instrument, with a handle and a flat part covered with parchment or crossed with catgut, used to strike a shuttlecock in play; also, the play of battledoor and shuttlecock. [ Also spelled battledore. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. [ OE. battleder. ] A child's hornbook. [ Obs. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. same as battledoor.
Syn. -- battledore and shuttlecock. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a region where a battle is fought.
Syn. -- battleground, field of battle, field. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. the line along which opposing armies face each other.
Syn. -- front, front line. [ WordNet 1.5 #here ]

n. a region where a battle is fought; same as battlefield.
Syn. -- battlefield, field of battle, field. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Experienced in combat, and therefore more effective at fighting; -- used mostly of infantry troops; as, battle-hardened veterans.
Syn. -- combat-hardened, combat-tested. [ PJC ]

n. [ OE. batelment; cf. OF. bataillement combat, fr. batailler, also OF. bastillier, bateillier, to fortify. Cf. Battle, n., Bastile, Bastion. ] (Arch.) (a) One of the solid upright parts of a parapet in ancient fortifications. (b) pl. The whole parapet, consisting of alternate solids and open spaces. At first purely a military feature, afterwards copied on a smaller scale with decorative features, as for churches. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having battlements. [ 1913 Webster ]

A battlemented portal. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ See 2d Battel, n. ] A student at Oxford who is supplied with provisions from the buttery; formerly, one who paid for nothing but what he called for, answering nearly to a sizar at Cambridge. Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Mil.) The range within which the fire of small arms is very destructive. With the magazine rifle, this is six hundred yards. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Nav.) [ shortened from line-of-battle ship, i.e. the most heavily armored ship suited to be in the front line of a naval battle. ] An armor-plated warship built of steel and heavily armed, generally having over ten thousand tons displacement, and intended to be fit to combat the heaviest enemy ships in line of battle; the most heavily armed and armored class of warship at any given time. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]