batch
/bæt͡ʃ/ · batch
noun
- A quantity of bread or other baked goods baked at one time. We made a batch of cookies for the school fundraiser.
- A quantity of any items produced in a single operation. The factory released a batch of smartphones yesterday.
- A group or collection of things of the same kind. She sorted the letters into separate batches for mailing.
verb
- To gather or combine items together into a single batch. The manager batched the purchase orders before sending them to accounting.
- To handle a set of input data or requests together as a batch process. The system batched the print jobs to reduce printer wear.
adjective
- Of a process that operates for a defined set of conditions and then halts. The plant uses a batch process for mixing chemicals, unlike its continuous lines.
Did you know? The word 'batch' was originally confined to baking, but it was adopted by the industrial sector in the 19th century and later by computing in the mid‑20th century to describe grouped processing of data.