trickle charge

English

Verb

trickle charge (third-person singular simple present trickle charges, present participle trickle charging, simple past and past participle trickle charged)

1. Keeping a battery fully charged by charging it at a rate equal to its self-discharge rate.
2. Charging a battery slowly, or by using a significantly smaller current than the battery is able to accept.
   • 2024 March 6, “Network News: GWR '230' sets UK battery record”, in RAIL, number 1004, page 13:

     GWR plans to use it on the Greenford branch in west London, making use of a fast charger at West Ealing that will charge the batteries in just three and a half minutes. This fast charger is essentially a battery installed at the lineside which is trickle-charged from the electricity grid. It can then discharge quickly into the train's batteries through charging rails and then start recharging itself while the train is running in service.

Antonyms

• fast charge, fast-charge

Derived terms

• trickle charger