accumulator
(əˈkjuːmjʊleɪtə(r))
[a. L. accumulātor, n. of agent f. accumulāre; see accumulate and -or.]
1. One who heaps up, amasses, or collects.
| 1748 Richardson Clarissa I. 62 (1811) To go on heaping up, till Death, as greedy an accumulator as themselves, gathers them into his garner. 1870 Athenæum 23 July 111/1 The contemptible insignificance of the sordid accumulator..whose wealth becomes much less his own property than the possession of society. |
2. One who takes degrees by accumulation.
| 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. I. col. 851 Charles Croke of the same house, an Accumulator and Compounder. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. Wood gives numerous instances of Accumulators; i.e. persons who accumulated, or took degrees by Accumulation at Oxford. |
3. a. Anything that accumulates. spec. An apparatus or arrangement for collecting and storing electricity. In various specific uses: see quots. In a computing machine: that part which collects and compounds the units of ‘information’ that it receives.
| 1833 Brit. Pat. 6357, I claim generally the use of compressed air as an accumulator of power to be made use of when required. 1856 Engineer 23 May 284 The cranes are worked by means of water pressure stored up in a cylinder termed an accumulator. 1877 W. Thomson Voy. of Challenger II. iii. 43 These accumulators are india-rubber bands, 3/4 inch in diameter and 3 feet in length. 1878 Engineering XXVI. 271 (title) Hydraulic Accumulator and Pumps. 1879 R. S. Ball in Cassell Techn. Educ. I. 241/2 This energy is stored up by the engine in what is called an accumulator. 1881 Standard 30 Dec. 5/3 The Faure, Planté, and Meriten's accumulators..are assuredly among the great factors of the future. 1881 Sir W. Thomson in Nature No. 619, 434 However convenient and non-wasteful the accumulator—whether Faure's electric accumulator, or other accumulators of energy hitherto invented. 1883 Gladstone & Tribe Chem. Secondary Batteries, p. ix, It is somewhat unfortunate that they have been called ‘accumulators’ or ‘storage batteries’. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 227/2 A hydraulic accumulator ordinarily consists of a hydraulic cylinder and ram, the ram being loaded with sufficient weight to give the pressure required in the hydraulic mains. 1946 Electronics Apr. 310/2 The arithmetic elements include 20 accumulators, 1 multiplier and 1 combination divider and square rooter. 1947 D. R. Hartree Calculating Machines 17 An accumulator..has a number of channels for the reception and transmission of numerical information. 1949 Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) ii. 15 Fuel accumulator, a device for storing fuel, during a portion of the starting cycle, in order to augment the flow momentarily when a predetermined fuel pressure has been reached. 1949 Gloss. Terms Refrigeration (B.S.I.) 4 Accumulator, a liquid refrigerant container in the low-pressure side of the system. |
b. attrib. and Comb.
| 1883 Daily News 10 Sept. 2/1 This installation is by the International Electric Company, and combines seven series of accumulator stations. 1898 Engineering Mag. XVI. 164/1 In Europe..accumulator traction has a decidedly better outlook. 1946 Electronics Apr. 310/2 (caption) Rear view of two of the accumulator racks. 1946 Nature 13 July 54/2 Adequate control of accumulator-charging current. |
4. In betting: one who carries forward the amount won on one event and stakes it on a subsequent event; a bet of this kind. Also attrib.
| 1889 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang I. 14/1 Accumulator (racing), a person who backs one horse, and then if it wins results (sometimes including original stakes) goes on to some other horse. 1923 Turf Guardian Yr. Bk. 12 In accumulators or commissions subject to contingencies, no further investments can be made after an objection is lodged or a dead heat occurs. 1951 E. Rickman Come Racing xviii. 182 Doubles, trebles and accumulators are popular among those backers who are particularly attracted by the possibility of winning a substantial sum for a small outlay. 1961 New Statesman 15 Sept. 336/1 A professional racing man..felt impelled to have an accumulator bet on every race on the day's card. |