Words whose third letter is U

Alum(n.) A double sulphate formed of aluminium and some other element (esp. an alkali metal) or of aluminium. It has twenty-four molecules of water of crystallization.

Aluminic(a.) Of or containing aluminium; as, aluminic phosphate.

Alum stone() A subsulphate of alumina and potash; alunite.

Alunogen(n.) A white fibrous mineral frequently found on the walls of mines and quarries, chiefly hydrous sulphate of alumina; -- also called feather alum, and hair salt.

Anura(n. pl.) One of the orders of amphibians characterized by the absence of a tail, as the frogs and toads.

Aoudad(n.) An African sheeplike quadruped (the Ammotragus tragelaphus) having a long mane on the breast and fore legs. It is, perhaps, the chamois of the Old Testament.

Apus(n.) A genus of fresh-water phyllopod crustaceans. See Phyllopod.

Aqua(n.) Water; -- a word much used in pharmacy and the old chemistry, in various signification, determined by the word or words annexed.

Aquila(n.) A northern constellation southerly from Lyra and Cygnus and preceding the Dolphin; the Eagle.

Blue(superl.) Having the color of the clear sky, or a hue resembling it, whether lighter or darker; as, the deep, blue sea; as blue as a sapphire; blue violets.

Boulangerite(n.) A mineral of a bluish gray color and metallic luster, usually in plumose masses, also compact. It is a sulphide of antimony and lead.

Bournonite(n.) A mineral of a steel-gray to black color and metallic luster, occurring crystallized, often in twin crystals shaped like cogwheels (wheel ore), also massive. It is a sulphide of antimony, lead, and copper.

Boustrophedon(n.) An ancient mode of writing, in alternate directions

Boustrophedonic(a.) Relating to the boustrophedon made of writing.

Boustorphic(a.) Boustrophedonic.

Brushite(n.) A white or gray crystal.

Brute(a.) Having the physical powers predominating over the mental; coarse; unpolished; unintelligent.

Cause(v.) The side of a question, which is espoused, advocated, and upheld by a person or party; a principle which is advocated; that which a person or party seeks to attain.

Chub(n.) A species to fresh-water fish of the Cyprinidae or Carp family. The common European species is Leuciscus cephalus; the cheven. In America the name is applied to various fishes of the same family, of the genera Semotilus, Squalius, Ceratichthys, etc., and locally to several very different fishes, as the tautog, black bass, etc.

Couch(v. t.) To put into some form of language; to express; to phrase; -- used with in and under.

Cough(v. t.) To expel from the lungs or air passages by coughing; -- followed by up; as, to cough up phlegm.

Council(n.) An assembly of men summoned or convened for consultation, deliberation, or advice; as, a council of physicians for consultation in a critical case.

Counterfeit(adv.) Assuming the appearance of something; false; spurious; deceitful; hypocritical; as, a counterfeit philanthropist.

Counterpoint(n.) The art of polyphony, or composite melody, i. e., melody not single, but moving attended by one or more related melodies.

Counterpoint(n.) Music in parts; part writing; harmony; polyphonic music. See Polyphony.

Countersign(a.) A private signal, word, or phrase, which must be given in order to pass a sentry; a watchword.

Courtling(n.) A sycophantic courtier.

Crucible(n.) A vessel or melting pot, composed of some very refractory substance, as clay, graphite, platinum, and used for melting and calcining substances which require a strong degree of heat, as metals, ores, etc.

Crus(n.) Often applied, especially in the plural, to parts which are supposed to resemble a pair of legs; as, the crura of the diaphragm, a pair of muscles attached to it; crura cerebri, two bundles of nerve fibers in the base of the brain, connecting the medulla and the forebrain.

Daubreelite(n.) A sulphide of chromium observed in some meteoric irons.

Dauphin(n.) The title of the eldest son of the king of France, and heir to the crown. Since the revolution of 1830, the title has been discontinued.

Dauphiness(n.) Alt. of Dauphine

Dauphine(n.) The title of the wife of the dauphin.

Deuterocanonical(a.) Pertaining to a second canon, or ecclesiastical writing of inferior authority; -- said of the Apocrypha, certain Epistles, etc.

Deutosulphuret(n.) A disulphide.

Double(n.) A feast in which the antiphon is doubled, hat is, said twice, before and after the Psalms, instead of only half being said, as in simple feasts.

Doublet(a.) An arrangement of two lenses for a microscope, designed to correct spherical aberration and chromatic dispersion, thus rendering the image of an object more clear and distinct.

Doubtful(a.) Not settled in opinion; undetermined; wavering; hesitating in belief; also used, metaphorically, of the body when its action is affected by such a state of mind; as, we are doubtful of a fact, or of the propriety of a measure.

Doubtful(a.) Characterized by ambiguity; dubious; as, a doubtful expression; a doubtful phrase.

Druggist(n.) One who deals in drugs; especially, one who buys and sells drugs without compounding them; also, a pharmaceutist or apothecary.

Druidess(n.) A female Druid; a prophetess.

Druidism(n.) The system of religion, philosophy, and instruction, received and taught by the Druids; the rites and ceremonies of the Druids.

Drum(n.) An instrument of percussion, consisting either of a hollow cylinder, over each end of which is stretched a piece of skin or vellum, to be beaten with a stick; or of a metallic hemisphere (kettledrum) with a single piece of skin to be so beaten; the common instrument for marking time in martial music; one of the pair of tympani in an orchestra, or cavalry band.

Drum(n.) A cylinder on a revolving shaft, generally for the purpose of driving several pulleys, by means of belts or straps passing around its periphery; also, the barrel of a hoisting machine, on which the rope or chain is wound.

Educate(v. t.) To bring /// or guide the powers of, as a child; to develop and cultivate, whether physically, mentally, or morally, but more commonly limited to the mental activities or senses

Emulsion(n.) Any liquid preparation of a color and consistency resembling milk; as: (a) In pharmacy, an extract of seeds, or a mixture of oil and water united by a mucilaginous substance. (b) In photography, a liquid preparation of collodion holding salt of silver, used in the photographic process.

Equator(n.) The imaginary great circle on the earth's surface, everywhere equally distant from the two poles, and dividing the earth's surface into two hemispheres.

Equator(n.) The great circle of the celestial sphere, coincident with the plane of the earth's equator; -- so called because when the sun is in it, the days and nights are of equal length; hence called also the equinoctial, and on maps, globes, etc.

Equilibration(n.) The process by which animal and vegetable organisms preserve a physiological balance.

Exult(v. i.) To be in high spirits; figuratively, to leap for joy; to rejoice in triumph or exceedingly; to triumph; as, an exulting heart.

Exultant(a.)

Exultation(n.) The act of exulting; lively joy at success or victory, or at any advantage gained; rapturous delight; triumph.

Exulting(a.) Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.

Fauces(n.pl.) The narrow passage from the mouth to the pharynx, situated between the soft palate and the base of the tongue; -- called also the isthmus of the fauces. On either side of the passage two membranous folds, called the pillars of the fauces, inclose the tonsils.

Faucial(a.) Pertaining to the fauces; pharyngeal.

Faun(n.) A god of fields and shipherds, diddering little from the satyr. The fauns are usually represented as half goat and half man.

Feudalist(n.) An upholder of feudalism.

Fluophosphate(n.) A double salt of fluoric and phosphoric acids.

Fluorescein(n.) A yellowish red, crystal.

Fluorescin(n.) A colorless, amorphous substance which is produced by the reduction of fluorescein, and from which the latter may be formed by oxidation.

Fluvialist(n.) One who exlpains geological phenomena by the action of streams.

Gauffre(n.) A gopher, esp. the pocket gopher.

Gauge(n.) Any instrument or apparatus for measuring the state of a phenomenon, or for ascertaining its numerical elements at any moment; -- usually applied to some particular instrument; as, a rain gauge; a steam gauge.

Glucinum(n.) A rare metallic element, of a silver white color, and low specific gravity (2.1), resembling magnesium. It never occurs naturally in the free state, but is always combined, usually with silica or alumina, or both; as in the minerals phenacite, chrysoberyl, beryl or emerald, euclase, and danalite. It was named from its oxide glucina, which was known long before the element was isolated. Symbol Gl. Atomic weight 9.1. Called also beryllium.

Glucoside(n.) One of a large series of amorphous or crystal.

Gnu(n.) One of two species of large South African antelopes of the genus Catoblephas, having a mane and bushy tail, and curved horns in both sexes.

Gourami(n.) A very largo East Indian freshwater fish (Osphromenus gorami), extensively reared in artificial ponds in tropical countries, and highly valued as a food fish. Many unsuccessful efforts have been made to introduce it into Southern Europe.

Gout(n.) A constitutional disease, occurring by paroxysms. It consists in an inflammation of the fibrous and ligamentous parts of the joints, and almost always attacks first the great toe, next the smaller joints, after which it may attack the greater articulations. It is attended with various sympathetic phenomena, particularly in the digestive organs. It may also attack internal organs, as the stomach, the intestines, etc.

Hauerite(n.) Native sulphide of manganese a reddish brown or brownish black mineral.

Hauynite(n.) A blue isometric mineral, characteristic of some volcani/ rocks. It is a silicate of alumina, lime, and soda, with sulphate of lime.

Houri(n.) A nymph of paradise; -- so called by the Mohammedans.

House(n.) Household affairs; domestic concerns; particularly in the phrase to keep house. See below.

Laudanine(n.) A white organic base, resembling morphine, and obtained from certain varieties of opium.

Launch(n.) The boat of the largest size belonging to a ship of war; also, an open boat of any size driven by steam, naphtha, electricity, or the like.

Lauraceous(a.) Belonging to, or resembling, a natural order (Lauraceae) of trees and shrubs having aromatic bark and foliage, and including the laurel, sassafras, cinnamon tree, true camphor tree, etc.

Laurinol(n.) Ordinary camphor; -- so called in allusion to the family name (Lauraceae) of the camphor trees. See Camphor.

Laurite(n.) A rare sulphide of osmium and ruthenium found with platinum in Borneo and Oregon.

Laurus(n.) A genus of trees including, according to modern authors, only the true laurel (Laurus nobilis), and the larger L. Canariensis of Madeira and the Canary Islands. Formerly the sassafras, the camphor tree, the cinnamon tree, and several other aromatic trees and shrubs, were also referred to the genus Laurus.

Leucin(n.) A white, crystal.

Leucocyte(n.) A colorless corpuscle, as one of the white blood corpuscles, or those found in lymph, marrow of bone, connective tissue, etc.

Leucocythemia(n.) A disease in which the white corpuscles of the blood are largely increased in number, and there is enlargement of the spleen, or the lymphatic glands; leuchaemia.

Leucophane(n.) A mineral of a greenish yellow color; it is a silicate of glucina, lime, and soda with fluorine. Called also leucophanite.

Leucophlegmacy(n.) A dropsical habit of body, or the commencement of anasarca; paleness, with viscid juices and cold sweats.

Leucophlegmatic(a.) Having a dropsical habit of body, with a white bloated skin.

Leucophyll(n.) A colorless substance isomeric with chlorophyll, contained in parts of plants capable of becoming green.

Leucophyllous(a.) Having white or silvery foliage.

Leucosphere(n.) The inner corona.

Loud(superl.) Emphatic; impressive; urgent; as, a loud call for united effort.

Louse(n.) Any one of numerous small mandibulate insects, mostly parasitic on birds, and feeding on the feathers. They are known as Mallophaga, or bird lice, though some occur on the hair of mammals. They are usually regarded as degraded Pseudoneuroptera. See Mallophaga.

Louse(n.) Any one of the numerous species of aphids, or plant lice. See Aphid.

Louse(n.) Any small crustacean parasitic on fishes. See Branchiura, and Ichthvophthira.

Maud(n.) A gray plaid; -- used by shepherds in Scotland.

Mould(n.) A growth of minute fungi of various kinds, esp. those of the great groups Hyphomycetes, and Physomycetes, forming on damp or decaying organic matter.

Mount(v.) The cardboard or cloth on which a drawing, photograph, or the like is mounted; a mounting.

Mourne(n.) The armed or feruled end of a staff; in a sheephook, the end of the staff to which the hook is attached.

Mouth(n.) The opening through which an animal receives food; the aperture between the jaws or between the lips; also, the cavity, containing the tongue and teeth, between the lips and the pharynx; the buccal cavity.

Naught(adv.) The arithmetical character 0; a cipher. See Cipher.

Nautilus(n.) The only existing genus of tetrabranchiate cephalopods. About four species are found living in the tropical Pacific, but many other species are found fossil. The shell is spiral, symmetrical, and chambered, or divided into several cavities by simple curved partitions, which are traversed and connected together by a continuous and nearly central tube or siphuncle. See Tetrabranchiata.

Neurapophysial(a.) Of or pertaining to a neurapophysis.

Neurapophyses(pl. ) of Neurapophysis

Neurapophysis(n.) One of the two lateral processes or elements which form the neural arch.

Neurapophysis(n.) The dorsal process of the neural arch; neural spine; spinous process.

Neurocoele(n.) The central canal and ventricles of the spinal cord and brain; the myelencephalic cavity.

Neurography(n.) A description of the nerves.

Neurokeratin(n.) A substance, resembling keratin, present in nerve tissue, as in the sheath of the axis cylinder of medullated nerve fibers. Like keratin it resists the action of most chemical agents, and by decomposition with sulphuric acid yields leucin and tyrosin.

Neuron(n.) The brain and spinal cord; the cerebro-spinal axis; myelencephalon.

Neuroptera(n. pl.) An order of hexapod insects having two pairs of large, membranous, net-veined wings. The mouth organs are adapted for chewing. They feed upon other insects, and undergo a complete metamorphosis. The ant-lion, hellgamite, and lacewing fly are examples. Formerly, the name was given to a much more extensive group, including the true Neuroptera and the Pseudoneuroptera.

Noumenal(a.) Of or pertaining to the noumenon; real; -- opposed to phenomenal.

Noumenon(n.) The of itself unknown and unknowable rational object, or thing in itself, which is distinguished from the phenomenon through which it is apprehended by the senses, and by which it is interpreted and understood; -- so used in the philosophy of Kant and his followers.

Aluminography(n.) Art or process of producing, and printing from, aluminium plates, after the manner of ordinary lithography.

Boucherize(v. t.) To impregnate with a preservative solution of copper sulphate, as timber, railroad ties, etc.

Bougie decimale() A photometric standard used in France, having the value of one twentieth of the Violle platinum standard, or slightly less than a British standard candle. Called also decimal candle.

Couleur(n.) Color; -- chiefly used in a few French phrases, as couler de rose, color of rose; and hence, adjectively, rose-colored; roseate.

Fluorescence(n.) A property possessed by fluor spar, uranium glass, sulphide of calcium, and many other substances, of glowing without appreciable rise of temperature when exposed to light or to ultra-violet rays, cathode rays, X rays, etc.

Fluviograph(n.) An instrument for measuring and recording automatically the rise and fall of a river.

Jiujitsu() The Japanese art of self-defense without weapons, now widely used as a system of physical training. It depends for its efficiency largely upon the principle of making use of an opponent's strength and weight to disable or injure him, and by applying pressure so that his opposing movement will throw him out of balance, dislocate or break a joint, etc. It opposes knowledge and skill to brute strength, and demands an extensive practical knowledge of human anatomy.

Meum(n.) Lit., mine; that which is mine; -- used in the phrase meum et tuum, or meum and tuum; as, to confound meum and tuum, to fail to distinguish one's own property from that of others; to be dishonest.

Mountain specter() An optical phenomenon sometimes seen on the summit of mountains (as on the Brocken) when the observer is between the sun and a mass of cloud. The figures of the observer and surrounding objects are seen projected on the cloud, greatly enlarged and often encircled by rainbow colors.

Nauheim treatment() Orig., a method of therapeutic treatment administered, esp. for chronic diseases of the curculatory system, at Bad Nauheim, Germany, by G. Schott, consisting in baths in the natural mineral waters of that place, which are charged with carbonic acid, and the use of a graduated course of rest, physical exercises, massage, etc.; hence, any similar treatment using waters artificially charged with the essential ingredients of the natural mineral waters of Bad Nauheim.

Neutrophile(n.) Alt. of Neutrophil

Neutrophil(n.) One of a group of leucocytes whose granules stain only with neutral dyes.

Pluviograph(n.) A self-registering rain gauge.

Pluviography(n.) The branch of meteorology treating of the automatic registration of the precipitation of rain, snow, etc.; also, the graphic presentation of precipitation data.

Sludge acid() Impure dark-colored sulphuric acid that has been used in the refining of petroleum.

Squeegee roller() A small India-rubber roller with a handle, used esp. in printing and photography as a squeegee.

Tau(n.) The nineteenth letter (/, /) of the Greek alphabet, equivalent to English t.

Tousche() A lithographic drawing or painting material of the same nature as lithographic ink. It is also used as a resistant in the biting-in process.

Young Men's Christian Association() An organization for promoting the spiritual, intellectual, social, and physical welfare of young men, founded, June 6, 1844, by George Williams (knighted therefor by Queen Victoria) in London. In 1851 it extended to the United States and Canada, and in 1855 representatives of similar organizations throughout Europe and America formed an international body.

Oculonasal(a.) Of or pertaining to the region of the eye and the nose; as, the oculonasal, or nasal, nerve, one of the branches of the ophthalmic.

Ovum(n.) A more or less spherical and transparent mass of granular protoplasm, which by a process of multiplication and growth develops into a mass of cells, constituting a new individual like the parent; an egg, spore, germ, or germ cell. See Illust. of Mycropyle.

Paulownia(n.) A genus of trees of the order Scrophulariaceae, consisting of one species, Paulownia imperialis.

Pause(n.) A break or paragraph in writing.

Peucedanin(n.) A tasteless white crystal.

Peucil(n.) A liquid resembling camphene, obtained by treating turpentine hydrochloride with lime.

Plumbago(n.) Same as Graphite.

Pluteus(n.) The free-swimming larva of sea urchins and ophiurans, having several long stiff processes inclosing calcareous rods.

Pouch(n.) A silicle, or short pod, as of the shepherd's purse.

Pouched(a.) Having external cheek pouches; as, the pouched gopher.

Poupart's ligament() A ligament, of fascia, extending, in most mammals, from the ventral side of the ilium to near the symphysis of the pubic bones.

Rhusma(n.) A mixtire of caustic lime and orpiment, or tersulphide of arsenic, -- used in the depilation of hides.

Rouge(n.) A red amorphous powder consisting of ferric oxide. It is used in polishing glass, metal, or gems, and as a cosmetic, etc. Called also crocus, jeweler's rouge, etc.

Round(a.) Having every portion of the surface or of the circumference equally distant from the center; spherical; circular; having a form approaching a spherical or a circular shape; orbicular; globular; as, a round ball.

Round(a.)

Round(v. t.) To make circular, spherical, or cylindrical; to give a round or convex figure to; as, to round a silver coin; to round the edges of anything.

Sauba ant() A South American ant (Oecodoma cephalotes) remarkable for having two large kinds of workers besides the ordinary ones, and for the immense size of its formicaries. The sauba ant cuts off leaves of plants and carries them into its subterranean nests, and thus often does great damage by defoliating trees and cultivated plants.

Scud(n.) Any swimming amphipod crustacean.

Scuffle(v. i.) Hence, to strive or contend tumultuously; to struggle confusedly or at haphazard.

Scuffle(n.) A rough, haphazard struggle, or trial of strength; a disorderly wrestling at close quarters.

Skullcap(n.) The Lophiomys.

Skunk(n.)

Soul(n.) The spiritual, rational, and immortal part in man; that part of man which enables him to think, and which renders him a subject of moral government; -- sometimes, in distinction from the higher nature, or spirit, of man, the so-called animal soul, that is, the seat of life, the sensitive affections and phantasy, exclusive of the voluntary and rational powers

Sounder(n.) One who, or that which; sounds; specifically, an instrument used in telegraphy in place of a register, the communications being read by sound.

Southcottian(n.) A follower of Joanna Southcott (1750-1814), an Englishwoman who, professing to have received a miraculous calling, preached and prophesied, and committed many impious absurdities.

Spurge(n.) Any plant of the genus Euphorbia. See Euphorbia.

Spurgewort(n.) Any euphorbiaceous plant.

Squawroot(n.) A scaly parasitic plant (Conopholis Americana) found in oak woods in the United States; -- called also cancer root.

Squeaker(n.) The Australian gray crow shrile (Strepera anaphonesis); -- so called from its note.

Squid(n.) Any one of numerous species of ten-armed cephalopods having a long, tapered body, and a caudal fin on each side; especially, any species of Loligo, Ommastrephes, and related genera. See Calamary, Decacerata, Dibranchiata.

Squilgee(n.) Formerly, a small swab for drying a vessel's deck; now, a kind of scraper having a blade or edge of rubber or of leather, -- used for removing superfluous, water or other liquids, as from a vessel's deck after washing, from window panes, photographer's plates, etc.

Student(n.) One who studies or examines in any manner; an attentive and systematic observer; as, a student of human nature, or of physical nature.

Sturdy(superl.) Characterized by physical strength or force; strong; lusty; violent; as, a sturdy lout.

Stuttering(n.) The act of one who stutters; -- restricted by some physiologists to defective speech due to inability to form the proper sounds, the breathing being normal, as distinguished from stammering.

Taurine(n.) A body occurring in small quantity in the juices of muscle, in the lungs, and elsewhere, but especially in the bile, where it is found as a component part of taurocholic acid, from which it can be prepared by decomposition of the acid. It crystallizes in colorless, regular six-sided prisms, and is especially characterized by containing both nitrogen and sulphur, being chemically amido-isethionic acid, C2H7NSO3.

Tautologist(n.) One who uses tautological words or phrases.

Tautology(n.) A repetition of the same meaning in different words; needless repetition of an idea in different words or phrases; a representation of anything as the cause, condition, or consequence of itself

Tautophonical(a.) Pertaining to, or characterized by, tautophony; repeating the same sound.

Tautophony(n.) Repetition of the same sound.

Teutonicism(n.) A mode of speech peculiar to the Teutons; a Teutonic idiom, phrase, or expression; a Teutonic mode or custom; a Germanism.

Thule(n.) The name given by ancient geographers to the northernmost part of the habitable world. According to some, this land was Norway, according to others, Iceland, or more probably Mainland, the largest of the Shetland islands; hence, the Latin phrase ultima Thule, farthest Thule.

Thumb(n.) The short, thick first digit of the human hand, differing from the other fingers in having but two phalanges; the pollex. See Pollex.

Thunder(n.) The sound which follows a flash of lightning; the report of a discharge of atmospheric electricity.

Thunder(n.) To produce thunder; to sound, rattle, or roar, as a discharge of atmospheric electricity; -- often used impersonally; as, it thundered continuously.

Thunderbird(n.) An Australian insectivorous singing bird (Pachycephala gutturalis). The male is conspicuously marked with black and yellow, and has a black crescent on the breast. Called also white-throated thickhead, orange-breasted thrust, black-crowned thrush, guttural thrush, and black-breasted flycatcher.

Thunderclap(n.) A sharp burst of thunder; a sudden report of a discharge of atmospheric electricity.

Thunderworm(n.) A small, footless, burrowing, snakelike lizard (Rhineura Floridana) allied to Amphisbaena, native of Florida; -- so called because it leaves its burrows after a thundershower.

Toucan(n.) Any one of numerous species of fruit-eating birds of tropical America belonging to Ramphastos, Pteroglossus, and allied genera of the family Ramphastidae. They have a very large, but light and thin, beak, often nearly as long as the body itself. Most of the species are brilliantly colored with red, yellow, white, and black in striking contrast.

Toucan(n.) A modern constellation of the southern hemisphere.

Touch(v. i.) To be in contact; to be in a state of junction, so that no space is between; as, two spheres touch only at points.

Tough(superl.) Not easily separated; viscous; clammy; tenacious; as, tough phlegm.

Trumpeter(n.) Any one of several species of long-legged South American birds of the genus Psophia, especially P. crepitans, which is abundant, and often domesticated and kept with other poultry by the natives. They are allied to the cranes. So called from their loud cry. Called also agami, and yakamik.

Trunk(n.) The probosc is of an elephant.

Trust(n.) To hope confidently; to believe; -- usually with a phrase or infinitive clause as the object.

Yourself(pron.) An emphasized or reflexive form of the pronoun of the second person; -- used as a subject commonly with you; as, you yourself shall see it; also, alone in the predicate, either in the nominative or objective case; as, you have injured yourself.

About the author

Mark McCracken Author: Mark McCracken is a corporate trainer and author living in Higashi Osaka, Japan. He is the author of thousands of online articles as well as the Business English textbook, "25 Business Skills in English".

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