Definition of Cathode

1. Noun. A negatively charged electrode that is the source of electrons entering an electrical device.


2. Noun. The positively charged terminal of a voltaic cell or storage battery that supplies current.
Group relationships: Accumulator, Storage Battery, Galvanic Cell, Primary Cell, Voltaic Cell
Generic synonyms: Depot, Terminal, Terminus
Antonyms: Anode

Definition of Cathode

1. n. The part of a voltaic battery by which the electric current leaves substances through which it passes, or the surface at which the electric current passes out of the electrolyte; the negative pole; -- opposed to anode.

Definition of Cathode

1. Noun. the electrode of an electrochemical cell at which reduction occurs ¹

2. Noun. the electrode through which current flows out of a device or cell (the negative terminal of an electrolytic cell or the positive terminal of a galvanic cell) ¹

3. Noun. (''considered incorrect usage by some'') the terminal through which current flows out of a diode when current is in the forward direction regardless of the direction the current is actually flowing ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Cathode

1. a negatively charged electrode [n -S] : CATHODAL, CATHODIC [adj]

Medical Definition of Cathode

1. The electrode in an electrochemical cell toward which cations are drawn and where reduction occurs. The negatively charged electrode in a vacuum tube. (16 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Cathode

cathetus
cathexes
cathexis
cathine
cathinone
cathisma
cathismas
cathodal
cathodal closure contraction
cathodal closure tetanus
cathodal duration tetanus
cathodal opening clonus
cathodal opening contraction
cathodal opening tetanus
cathodally
cathode (current term)
cathode-ray oscilloscope
cathode-ray tube
cathode ray
cathode ray tube
cathode rays
cathodes
cathodic
cathodic protection
cathodically
cathodoluminescence
cathodoluminescences
cathodoluminescent
cathole
catholes

Literary usage of Cathode

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London by Royal Society (Great Britain) (1898)
"Similarly those portions of the stream that impinge on the anti-cathode surface very much on the slant are correspondingly ineffective in producing Rontgen ..."

2. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society by Cambridge Philosophical Society (1908)
"On the velocity of Secondary cathode Rays from gases. By JJ THOMSON, MA, FRS, ... When a discharge passes from a Wehnelt cathode, on which the lime is ..."

3. The New Larned History for Ready Reference, Reading and Research: The Actual by Josephus Nelson Larned, Augustus Hunt Shearer (1922)
"With further exhaustion the tube looks as if it were empty, but the glass still glows brightly, particularly about the cathode. ..."

4. The Elements of Physics: A College Text-book by Edward Leamington Nichols, William Suddards Franklin (1896)
"A slight negative glow may remain in the portions of the tube remote from the cathode or near the anode. The phenomena exhibited by such a highly exhausted ..."

5. Journal of the American Chemical Society by American Chemical Society (1914)
"Yet the flow from the cathode cup is so marked that to keep from ... In Expt. 19, 220 cc. were added to the cathode while only 20 cc. passed into the anode ..."

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