Words whose 6th letter is R

Abhorrent (a.) Contrary or repugnant; discordant; inconsistent; -- followed by to.

Actuary (n.) A registrar or clerk; -- used originally in courts of civil law jurisdiction, but in Europe used for a clerk or registrar generally.

Adjourn (v. t.) To put off or defer to another day, or indefinitely; to postpone; to close or suspend for the day; -- commonly said of the meeting, or the action, of convened body; as, to adjourn the meeting; to adjourn a debate.

Adularia (n.) A transparent or translucent variety of common feldspar, or orthoclase, which often shows pearly opalescent reflections; -- called by lapidaries moonstone.

Affair (n.) That which is done or is to be done; matter; concern; as, a difficult affair to manage; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public; -- often in the plural. "At the head of affairs." Junius.

Agouara (n.) The crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus), found in the tropical parts of America.

Albatross (n.) A web-footed bird, of the genus Diomedea, of which there are several species. They are the largest of sea birds, capable of long-continued flight, and are often seen at great distances from the land. They are found chiefly in the southern hemisphere.

Aliform (a.) Wing-shaped; winglike.

Allograph (n.) A writing or signature made by some person other than any of the parties thereto; -- opposed to autograph.

Allotrophic (a.) Dependent upon other organisms for nutrition; heterotrophic; -- said of plants unable to perform photosynthesis, as all saprophytes; -- opposed to autotrophic.

Amphora (n.) Among the ancients, a two-handled vessel, tapering at the bottom, used for holding wine, oil, etc.

Anchor (n.) Carved work, somewhat resembling an anchor or arrowhead; -- a part of the ornaments of certain moldings. It is seen in the echinus, or egg-and-anchor (called also egg-and-dart, egg-and-tongue) ornament.

Anchor (n.) One of the anchor-shaped spicules of certain sponges; also, one of the calcareous spinules of certain Holothurians, as in species of Synapta.

Anchorate (a.) Anchor-shaped.

Anemorphilous (a.) Fertilized by the agency of the wind; -- said of plants in which the pollen is carried to the stigma by the wind; wind-Fertilized.

Anhydride (n.) An oxide of a nonmetallic body or an organic radical, capable of forming an acid by uniting with the elements of water; -- so called because it may be formed from an acid by the abstraction of water.

Apochromatic (a.) Free from chromatic and spherical aberration; -- said esp. of a lens in which rays of three or more colors are brought to the same focus, the degree of achromatism thus obtained being more complete than where two rays only are thus focused, as in the ordinary achromatic objective.

Answer (v. i.) To be or act in conformity, or by way of accommodation, correspondence, relation, or proportion; to conform; to correspond; to suit; -- usually with to.

Answer (n.) A counter-statement of facts in a course of pleadings; a confutation of what the other party has alleged; a responsive declaration by a witness in reply to a question. In Equity, it is the usual form of defense to the complainant's charges in his bill.

Antheridium (n.) The male reproductive apparatus in the lower, consisting of a cell or other cavity in which spermatozoids are produced; -- called also spermary.

Antheriform (a.) Shaped like an anther; anther-shaped.

Apocarpous (a.) Either entirely or partially separate, as the carpels of a compound pistil; -- opposed to syncarpous.

Apolar (a.) Having no radiating processes; -- applied particularly to certain nerve cells.

Arrear (n.) That which is behind in payment, or which remains unpaid, though due; esp. a remainder, or balance which remains due when some part has been paid; arrearage; -- commonly used in the plural, as, arrears of rent, wages, or taxes.

Arriere (n.) "That which is behind"; the rear; -- chiefly used as an adjective in the sense of behind, rear, subordinate.

Autotransformer (n.) A transformer in which part of the primary winding is used as a secondary winding, or vice versa; -- called also a compensator or balancing coil.

Autotrophic (a.) Capable of self-nourishment; -- said of all plants in which photosynthetic activity takes place, as opposed to parasitism or saprophytism.

Autocracy (n.) Independent or self-derived power; absolute or controlling authority; supremacy.

Autocratrix (n.) A female sovereign who is independent and absolute; -- a title given to the empresses of Russia.

Avatar (n.) The descent of a deity to earth, and his incarnation as a man or an animal; -- chiefly associated with the incarnations of Vishnu.

Awlwort (n.) A plant (Subularia aquatica), with awl-shaped leaves.

Azedarach (n.) A handsome Asiatic tree (Melia azedarach), common in the southern United States; -- called also, Pride of India, Pride of China, and Bead tree.

Backare (interj.) Stand back! give place! -- a cant word of the Elizabethan writers, probably in ridicule of some person who pretended to a knowledge of Latin which he did not possess.

Badderlocks (n.) A large black seaweed (Alaria esculenta) sometimes eaten in Europe; -- also called murlins, honeyware, and henware.

Badger (n.) An itinerant licensed dealer in commodities used for food; a hawker; a huckster; -- formerly applied especially to one who bought grain in one place and sold it in another.

Banner (n.) Any flag or standard; as, the star-spangled banner.

Banneret (n.) Originally, a knight who led his vassals into the field under his own banner; -- commonly used as a title of rank.

Banter (v. t.) To address playful good-natured ridicule to, -- the person addressed, or something pertaining to him, being the subject of the jesting; to rally; as, he bantered me about my credulity.

Banter (v. t.) To delude or trick, -- esp. by way of jest.

Banter (n.) The act of bantering; joking or jesting; humorous or good-humored raillery; pleasantry.

Barter (v. t.) To trade or exchange in the way of barter; to exchange (frequently for an unworthy consideration); to traffic; to truck; -- sometimes followed by away; as, to barter away goods or honor.

Bastard (n.) Lacking in genuineness; spurious; false; adulterate; -- applied to things which resemble those which are genuine, but are really not so.

Batter (v. t.) A semi-liquid mixture of several ingredients, as, flour, eggs, milk, etc., beaten together and used in cookery.

Bayberry (n.) The fruit of Myrica cerifera (wax myrtle); the shrub itself; -- called also candleberry tree.

Banjorine (n.) A kind of banjo, with a short neck, tuned a fourth higher than the common banjo; -- popularly so called.

Barber (n.) A storm accompanied by driving ice spicules formed from sea water, esp. one occurring on the Gulf of St. Lawrence; -- so named from the cutting ice spicules.

Beaker (n.) An open-mouthed, thin glass vessel, having a projecting lip for pouring; -- used for holding solutions requiring heat.

Bearer (n.) A strip of reglet or other furniture to bear off the impression from a blank page; also, a type or type-high piece of metal interspersed in blank parts to support the plate when it is shaved.

Beggar (n.) One who is dependent upon others for support; -- a contemptuous or sarcastic use.

Beggarly (a.) In the condition of, or like, a beggar; suitable for a beggar; extremely indigent; poverty-stricken; mean; poor; contemptible.

Berber (n.) A member of a race somewhat resembling the Arabs, but often classed as Hamitic, who were formerly the inhabitants of the whole of North Africa from the Mediterranean southward into the Sahara, and who still occupy a large part of that region; -- called also Kabyles. Also, the language spoken by this people.

Bestir (v. t.) To put into brisk or vigorous action; to move with life and vigor; -- usually with the reciprocal pronoun.

Better (n.) Advantage, superiority, or victory; -- usually with of; as, to get the better of an enemy.

Better (n.) One who has a claim to precedence; a superior, as in merit, social standing, etc.; -- usually in the plural.

Betterment (n.) An improvement of an estate which renders it better than mere repairing would do; -- generally used in the plural.

Bellarmine (n.) A stoneware jug of a pattern originated in the neighborhood of Cologne, Germany, in the 16th century. It has a bearded face or mask supposed to represent Cardinal Bellarmine, a leader in the Roman Catholic Counter Reformation, following the Reformation; -- called also graybeard, longbeard.

Bibber (n.) One given to drinking alcoholic beverages too freely; a tippler; -- chiefly used in composition; as, winebibber.

Biflorous (a.) Bearing two flowers; two-flowered.

Bigotry (n.) The state of mind of a bigot; obstinate and unreasoning attachment of one's own belief and opinions, with narrow-minded intolerance of beliefs opposed to them.

Binder (n.) Anything that binds, as a fillet, cord, rope, or band; a bandage; -- esp. the principal piece of timber intended to bind together any building.

Bismer (n.) The fifteen-spined (Gasterosteus spinachia).

Bitternut (n.) The swamp hickory (Carya amara). Its thin-shelled nuts are bitter.

Bittersweet (n.) A climbing shrub, with oval coral-red berries (Solanum dulcamara); woody nightshade. The whole plant is poisonous, and has a taste at first sweetish and then bitter. The branches are the officinal dulcamara.

Bittersweet (n.) An American woody climber (Celastrus scandens), whose yellow capsules open late in autumn, and disclose the red aril which covers the seeds; -- also called Roxbury waxwork.

Blazer (n.) The dish used when cooking directly over the flame of a chafing-dish lamp, or the coals of a brasier.

Blazer (n.) The dish used when cooking directly over the flame of a chafing-dish lamp, or the coals of a brasier.

Bloodroot (n.) A plant (Sanguinaria Canadensis), with a red root and red sap, and bearing a pretty, white flower in early spring; -- called also puccoon, redroot, bloodwort, tetterwort, turmeric, and Indian paint. It has acrid emetic properties, and the rootstock is used as a stimulant expectorant. See Sanguinaria.

Blower (n.) The whale; -- so called by seamen, from the circumstance of its spouting up a column of water.

Bluebreast (n.) A small European bird; the blue-throated warbler.

Bombardon (n.) Originally, a deep-toned instrument of the oboe or bassoon family; thence, a bass reed stop on the organ. The name bombardon is now given to a brass instrument, the lowest of the saxhorns, in tone resembling the ophicleide.

Bondar (n.) A small quadruped of Bengal (Paradoxurus bondar), allied to the genet; -- called also musk cat.

Border (v. i.) To touch at the edge or boundary; to be contiguous or adjacent; -- with on or upon as, Connecticut borders on Massachusetts.

Brevirostrate (a.) Short-billed; having a short beak.

Bromyrite (n.) Silver bromide, a rare mineral; -- called also bromargyrite.

Bunker (n.) Hence, any rough hazardous ground on the links; also, an artificial hazard with built-up faces.

Bucker (n.) A broad-headed hammer used in bucking ore.

Buffer (n.) A pad or cushion forming the end of a fender, which receives the blow; -- sometimes called buffing apparatus.

Buffer (n.) A good-humored, slow-witted fellow; -- usually said of an elderly man.

Bugger (n.) A wretch; -- sometimes used humorously or in playful disparagement.

Bullfrog (n.) A very large species of frog (Rana Catesbiana), found in North America; -- so named from its loud bellowing in spring.

Butlerage (n.) A duty of two shillings on every tun of wine imported into England by merchant strangers; -- so called because paid to the king's butler for the king.

Butterbird (n.) The rice bunting or bobolink; -- so called in the island of Jamaica.

Butterbur (n.) A broad-leaved plant (Petasites vulgaris) of the Composite family, said to have been used in England for wrapping up pats of butter.

Buttercup (n.) A plant of the genus Ranunculus, or crowfoot, particularly R. bulbosus, with bright yellow flowers; -- called also butterflower, golden cup, and kingcup. It is the cuckoobud of Shakespeare.

Butternut (n.) An American tree (Juglans cinerea) of the Walnut family, and its edible fruit; -- so called from the oil contained in the latter. Sometimes called oil nut and white walnut.

Butternut (n.) The nut of the Caryocar butyrosum and C. nuciferum, of S. America; -- called also Souari nut.

Cabbiri (n. pl.) Certain deities originally worshiped with mystical rites by the Pelasgians in Lemnos and Samothrace and afterwards throughout Greece; -- also called sons of Hephaestus (or Vulcan), as being masters of the art of working metals.

Cabrerite (n.) An apple-green mineral, a hydrous arseniate of nickel, cobalt, and magnesia; -- so named from the Sierra Cabrera, Spain.

Carborundum () A beautiful crystalCarburettor (n.) One that carburets; specif., an apparatus in which air or gas is carbureted, as by passing it through a light petroleum oil. The carburetor for a gasoCalcariferous (a.) Lime-yielding; calciferous

Calibre (n.) The diameter of the bore, as a cannon or other firearm, or of any tube; or the weight or size of the projectile which a firearm will carry; as, an 8 inch gun, a 12-pounder, a 44 caliber.

Calvary (n.) A cross, set upon three steps; -- more properly called cross calvary.

Camberkeeled (a.) Having the keel arched upwards, but not actually hogged; -- said of a ship.

Canker (n.) A corroding or sloughing ulcer; esp. a spreading gangrenous ulcer or collection of ulcers in or about the mouth; -- called also water canker, canker of the mouth, and noma.

Canker (n.) An obstinate and often incurable disease of a horse's foot, characterized by separation of the horny portion and the development of fungoid growths; -- usually resulting from neglected thrush.

Canker (n.) A kind of wild, worthless rose; the dog-rose.

Cankered (a.) Affected mentally or morally as with canker; sore, envenomed; malignant; fretful; ill-natured.

Capper (n.) A by-bidder; a decoy for gamblers [Slang, U. S.].

Carburize (v. t.) To combine with carbon or a carbon compound; -- said esp. of a process for conferring a higher degree of illuminating power on combustible gases by mingling them with a vapor of volatile hydrocarbons.

Carter (n.) Any species of Phalangium; -- also called harvestman

Castoreum (n.) A peculiar bitter orange-brown substance, with strong, penetrating odor, found in two sacs between the anus and external genitals of the beaver; castor; -- used in medicine as an antispasmodic, and by perfumers.

Catadromous (a.) Having the lowest inferior segment of a pinna nearer the rachis than the lowest superior one; -- said of a mode of branching in ferns, and opposed to anadromous.

Catadromous (a.) Living in fresh water, and going to the sea to spawn; -- opposed to anadromous, and said of the eel.

Catharist (n.) One aiming at or pretending to a greater purity of like than others about him; -- applied to persons of various sects. See Albigenses.

Caviar (n.) The roes of the sturgeon, prepared and salted; -- used as a relish, esp. in Russia.

Celebrant (n.) One who performs a public religious rite; -- applied particularly to an officiating priest in the Roman Catholic Church, as distinguished from his assistants.

Celebrity (n.) A person of distinction or renown; -- usually in the plural; as, he is one of the celebrities of the place.

Censor (n.) One who is empowered to examine manuscripts before they are committed to the press, and to forbid their publication if they contain anything obnoxious; -- an official in some European countries.

Censor (n.) One given to fault-finding; a censurer.

Center (n.) A temporary structure upon which the materials of a vault or arch are supported in position until the work becomes self-supporting.

Cerberus (n.) A monster, in the shape of a three-headed dog, guarding the entrance into the infernal regions, Hence: Any vigilant custodian or guardian, esp. if surly.

Cercaria (n.) The larval form of a trematode worm having the shape of a tadpole, with its body terminated by a tail-like appendage.

Cerebropathy (n.) A hypochondriacal condition verging upon insanity, occurring in those whose brains have been unduly taxed; -- called also brain fag.

Cerebrose (n.) A sugarlike body obtained by the decomposition of the nitrogenous non-phosphorized principles of the brain.

Chaparajos (n. pl.) Overalls of sheepskin or leather, usually open at the back, worn, esp. by cowboys, to protect the legs from thorny bushes, as in the chaparral; -- called also chapareras or colloq. chaps.

Chaparajos (n. pl.) Overalls of sheepskin or leather, usually open at the back, worn, esp. by cowboys, to protect the legs from thorny bushes, as in the chaparral; -- called also chapareras or colloq. chaps.

Chafer (n.) A vessel for heating water; -- hence, a dish or pan.

Chancroid (n.) A venereal sore, resembling a chancre in its seat and some external characters, but differing from it in being the starting point of a purely local process and never of a systemic disease; -- called also soft chancre.

Chartreuse (n.) An alcoholic cordial, distilled from aromatic herbs; -- made at La Grande Chartreuse.

Checkrein (n.) A short rein looped over the check hook to prevent a horse from lowering his head; -- called also a bearing rein.

Checkroll (n.) A list of servants in a household; -- called also chequer roll.

Chikara (n.) The Indian four-horned antelope (Tetraceros quadricornis).

Choler (n.) The bile; -- formerly supposed to be the seat and cause of irascibility.

Chondrin (n.) A colorless, amorphous, nitrogenous substance, tasteless and odorless, formed from cartilaginous tissue by long-continued action of boiling water. It is similar to gelatin, and is a large ingredient of commercial gelatin.

Chondroganoidea (n.) An order of ganoid fishes, including the sturgeons; -- so called on account of their cartilaginous skeleton.

Chondrostei (n. pl.) An order of fishes, including the sturgeons; -- so named because the skeleton is cartilaginous.

Clever (a.) Well-shaped; handsome.

Clever (a.) Good-natured; obliging.

Closereefed (a.) Having all the reefs taken in; -- said of a sail.

Cocker (n.) A rustic high shoe or half-boots.

Codger (n.) A singular or odd person; -- a familiar, humorous, or depreciatory appellation.

Coffer (n.) Fig.: Treasure or funds; -- usually in the plural.

Cofferdam (n.) A water-tight inclosure, as of piles packed with clay, from which the water is pumped to expose the bottom (of a river, etc.) and permit the laying of foundations, building of piers, etc.

Coiner (n.) One who makes or stamps coin; a maker of money; -- usually, a maker of counterfeit money.

Collar (n.) An eye formed in the bight or bend of a shroud or stay to go over the masthead; also, a rope to which certain parts of rigging, as dead-eyes, are secured.

Collared (a.) Wearing a collar; -- said of a man or beast used as a bearing when a collar is represented as worn around the neck or loins.

Comfortable (a.) Free, or comparatively free, from pain or distress; -- used of a sick person.

Comforter (n.) The Holy Spirit, -- referring to his office of comforting believers.

Comparative (a.) Expressing a degree greater or less than the positive degree of the quality denoted by an adjective or adverb. The comparative degree is formed from the positive by the use of -er, more, or less; as, brighter, more bright, or less bright.

Comparator (n.) An instrument or machine for comparing anything to be measured with a standard measure; -- applied especially to a machine for comparing standards of length.

Compare (v. t.) To inflect according to the degrees of comparison; to state positive, comparative, and superlative forms of; as, most adjectives of one syllable are compared by affixing "- er" and "-est" to the positive form; as, black, blacker, blackest; those of more than one syllable are usually compared by prefixing "more" and "most", or "less" and "least", to the positive; as, beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful.

Compartment (n.) One of the sections into which the hold of a ship is divided by water-tight bulkheads.

Comport (v. i.) To agree; to accord; to suit; -- sometimes followed by with.

Comport (v. t.) To carry; to conduct; -- with a reflexive pronoun.

Compurgation (v. t.) The act or practice of justifying or confirming a man's veracity by the oath of others; -- called also wager of law. See Purgation; also Wager of law, under Wager.

Conacre (v. t.) To underlet a portion of, for a single crop; -- said of a farm.

Concertino (n.) A piece for one or more solo instruments with orchestra; -- more concise than the concerto.

Concertmeister (n.) The head violinist or leader of the strings in an orchestra; the sub-leader of the orchestra; concert master.

Concurrence (n.) A meeting of minds; agreement in opinion; union in design or act; -- implying joint approbation.

Concurrent (n.) One of the supernumerary days of the year over fifty-two complete weeks; -- so called because they concur with the solar cycle, the course of which they follow.

Conferruminated (a.) Closely united by the coalescence, or sticking together, of contiguous faces, as in the case of the cotyledons of the live-oak acorn.

Conferva (n.) Any unbranched, slender, green plant of the fresh-water algae. The word is frequently used in a wider sense.

Conform (v. t.) To shape in accordance with; to make like; to bring into harmony or agreement with; -- usually with to or unto.

Conform (v. i.) To be in accord or harmony; to comply; to be obedient; to submit; -- with to or with.

Conformable (a.) Corresponding in form, character, opinions, etc.; similar; like; consistent; proper or suitable; -- usually followed by to.

Conformable (a.) Parallel, or nearly so; -- said of strata in contact.

Conformity (n.) Correspondence in form, manner, or character; resemblance; agreement; congruity; -- followed by to, with, or between.

Conger (n.) The conger eel; -- called also congeree.

Conservative (a.) Of or pertaining to a political party which favors the conservation of existing institutions and forms of government, as the Conservative party in England; -- contradistinguished from Liberal and Radical.

Conservative (n.) One who desires to maintain existing institutions and customs; also, one who holds moderate opinions in politics; -- opposed to revolutionary or radical.

Consort (v. i.) To unite or to keep company; to associate; -- used with with.

Contorniate (n.) A species of medal or medallion of bronze, having a deep furrow on the contour or edge; -- supposed to have been struck in the days of Constantine and his successors.

Contortuplicate (a.) Plaited lengthwise and twisted in addition, as the bud of the morning-glory.

Conversant (a.) Familiar or acquainted by use or study; well-informed; versed; -- generally used with with, sometimes with in.

Conversative (a.) Relating to intercourse with men; social; -- opposed to contemplative.

Conversazioni (pl. ) of Conversazi-one

Converse (v. i.) To keep company; to hold intimate intercourse; to commune; -- followed by with.

Converse (v. i.) To engage in familiar colloquy; to interchange thoughts and opinions in a free, informal manner; to chat; -- followed by with before a person; by on, about, concerning, etc., before a thing.

Converse (v. i.) To have knowledge of, from long intercourse or study; -- said of things.

Convertend (n.) Any proposition which is subject to the process of conversion; -- so called in its relation to itself as converted, after which process it is termed the converse. See Converse, n. (Logic).

Cooter (n.) A fresh-water tortoise (Pseudemus concinna) of Florida.

Copperhead (n.) A poisonous American serpent (Ancistrodon conotortrix), closely allied to the rattlesnake, but without rattles; -- called also copper-belly, and red viper.

Copperworm (n.) The teredo; -- so called because it injures the bottoms of vessels, where not protected by copper.

Corncrake (n.) A bird (Crex crex or C. pratensis) which frequents grain fields; the European crake or land rail; -- called also corn bird.

Corporality (n.) The state of being or having a body; bodily existence; corporeality; -- opposed to spirituality.

Corporeal (a.) Having a body; consisting of, or pertaining to, a material body or substance; material; -- opposed to spiritual or immaterial.

Cotter (n.) A piece of wood or metal, commonly wedge-shaped, used for fastening together parts of a machine or structure. It is driven into an opening through one or all of the parts. [See Illust.] In the United States a cotter is commonly called a key.

Coumarin (n.) The concrete essence of the tonka bean, the fruit of Dipterix (formerly Coumarouna) odorata and consisting essentially of coumarin proper, which is a white crystalCountryman (n.) One born in the same country with another; a compatriot; -- used with a possessive pronoun.

Cowberry (n.) A species of Vaccinium (V. Vitis-idaea), which bears acid red berries which are sometimes used in cookery; -- locally called mountain cranberry.

Cowbird (n.) The cow blackbird (Molothrus ater), an American starling. Like the European cuckoo, it builds no nest, but lays its eggs in the nests of other birds; -- so called because frequently associated with cattle.

Crater (n.) A constellation of the southen hemisphere; -- called also the Cup.

Crateriform (a.) Having the form of a shallow bowl; -- said of a corolla.

Criber (n.) Alt. of Crib-biter

Crossrow (n.) The alphabet; -- called also Christcross-row.

Crossruff (n.) The play in whist where partners trump each a different suit, and lead to each other for that purpose; -- called also seesaw.

Cultured (a.) Characterized by mental and moral training; discipCulverin (n.) A long cannon of the 16th century, usually an 18-pounder with serpent-shaped handles.

Cunner (n.) A small edible fish of the Atlantic coast (Ctenolabrus adspersus); -- called also chogset, burgall, blue perch, and bait stealer.

Curmurring (n.) Murmuring; grumbling; -- sometimes applied to the rumbling produced by a slight attack of the gripes.

Cutter (n.) A small armed vessel, usually a steamer, in the revenue marine service; -- also called revenue cutter.

Cutter (n.) A small, light one-horse sleigh.

Cutter (n.) A kind of soft yellow brick, used for facework; -- so called from the facility with which it can be cut.

Dagger (n.) A mark of reference in the form of a dagger [/]. It is the second in order when more than one reference occurs on a page; -- called also obelisk.

Dammara (n.) A large tree of the order Coniferae, indigenous to the East Indies and Australasia; -- called also Agathis. There are several species.

Darter (n.) The snakebird, a water bird of the genus Plotus; -- so called because it darts out its long, snakelike neck at its prey. See Snakebird.

Darter (n.) A small fresh-water etheostomoid fish. The group includes numerous genera and species, all of them American. See Etheostomoid.

Debtor (n.) One who owes a debt; one who is indebted; -- correlative to creditor.

Decker (n.) A vessel which has a deck or decks; -- used esp. in composition; as, a single-decker; a three-decker.

Declare (v. i.) To make a declaration, or an open and explicit avowal; to proclaim one's self; -- often with for or against; as, victory declares against the allies.

Decurrent (a.) Extending downward; -- said of a leaf whose base extends downward and forms a wing along the stem.

Deergrass (n.) An American genus (Rhexia) of perennial herbs, with opposite leaves, and showy flowers (usually bright purple), with four petals and eight stamens, -- the only genus of the order Melastomaceae inhabiting a temperate clime.

Deiparous (a.) Bearing or bringing forth a god; -- said of the Virgin Mary.

Democratic (a.) Befitting the common people; -- opposed to aristocratic.

Dentirostral (a.) Having a toothed bill; -- applied to a group of passerine birds, having the bill notched, and feeding chiefly on insects, as the shrikes and vireos. See Illust. (N) under Beak.

Deoperculate (a.) Having the lid removed; -- said of the capsules of mosses.

Derotremata (n. pl.) The tribe of aquatic Amphibia which includes Amphiuma, Menopoma, etc. They have permanent gill openings, but no external gills; -- called also Cryptobranchiata.

Desecrate (v. t.) To divest of a sacred character or office; to divert from a sacred purpose; to violate the sanctity of; to profane; to put to an unworthy use; -- the opposite of consecrate.

Desperate (a.) Extreme, in a bad sense; outrageous; -- used to mark the extreme predominance of a bad quality.

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

Deuterogamy (n.) A second marriage, after the death of the first husband of wife; -- in distinction from bigamy, as defined in the old canon law. See Bigamy.

Deuterogenic (a.) Of secondary origin; -- said of certain rocks whose material has been derived from older rocks.

Devoir (n.) Duty; service owed; hence, due act of civility or respect; -- now usually in the plural; as, they paid their devoirs to the ladies.

Dexter (a.) On the right-hand side of a shield, i. e., towards the right hand of its wearer. To a spectator in front, as in a pictorial representation, this would be the left side.

Dexterity (n.) Right-handedness.

Differ (v. i.) To be or stand apart; to disagree; to be unlike; to be distinguished; -- with from.

Differ (v. i.) To be of unlike or opposite opinion; to disagree in sentiment; -- often with from or with.

Difform (a.) Irregular in form; -- opposed to uniform; anomalous; hence, unlike; dissimilar; as, to difform corolla, the parts of which do not correspond in size or proportion; difform leaves.

Diggers (n. pl.) A degraded tribe of California Indians; -- so called from their practice of digging roots for food.

Dioptrics (n.) The science of the refraction of light; that part of geometrical optics which treats of the laws of the refraction of light in passing from one medium into another, or through different mediums, as air, water, or glass, and esp. through different lenses; -- distinguished from catoptrics, which refers to reflected light.

Dipteral (a.) Having a double row of columns on each on the flanks, as well as in front and rear; -- said of a temple.

Dipterous (a.) Having two wings; two-winged.

Dipterygian (a.) Having two dorsal fins; -- said of certain fishes.

Disburse (v. t.) To pay out; to expend; -- usually from a public fund or treasury.

Discerning (a.) Acute; shrewd; sagacious; sharp-sighted.

Discord (v. i.) Want of concord or agreement; absence of unity or harmony in sentiment or action; variance leading to contention and strife; disagreement; -- applied to persons or to things, and to thoughts, feelings, or purposes.

Disgorge (v. t.) To give up unwillingly as what one has wrongfully seized and appropriated; to make restitution of; to surrender; as, he was compelled to disgorge his ill-gotten gains.

Disparagement (n.) Injurious comparison with an inferior; a depreciating or dishonoring opinion or insinuation; diminution of value; dishonor; indignity; reproach; disgrace; detraction; -- commonly with to.

Disparity (n.) Inequality; difference in age, rank, condition, or excellence; dissimilitude; -- followed by between, in, of, as to, etc.; as, disparity in, or of, years; a disparity as to color.

Dispart (n.) A piece of metal placed on the muzzle, or near the trunnions, on the top of a piece of ordnance, to make the Dogberry (n.) The berry of the dogwood; -- called also dogcherry.

Dogcart (n.) A light one-horse carriage, commonly two-wheeled, patterned after a cart. The original dogcarts used in England by sportsmen had a box at the back for carrying dogs.

Dogger (n.) A two-masted fishing vessel, used by the Dutch.

Dollardee (n.) A species of sunfish (Lepomis pallidus), common in the United States; -- called also blue sunfish, and copper-nosed bream.

Drapery (n.) The occupation of a draper; cloth-making, or dealing in cloth.

Drawer (n.) One who draws a bill of exchange or order for payment; -- the correlative of drawee.

Drawer (n.) An under-garment worn on the lower limbs.

Driver (n.) The after sail in a ship or bark, being a fore-and-aft sail attached to a gaff; a spanker.

Drosera (n.) A genus of low perennial or biennial plants, the leaves of which are beset with gland-tipped bristles. See Sundew.

Dunbird (n.) The pochard; -- called also dunair, and dunker, or dun-curre.

Dunker (n.) One of a religious denomination whose tenets and practices are mainly those of the Baptists, but partly those of the Quakers; -- called also Tunkers, Dunkards, Dippers, and, by themselves, Brethren, and German Baptists.

Duster (n.) A revolving wire-cloth cylinder which removes the dust from rags, etc.

Duster (n.) A light over-garment, worn in traveling to protect the clothing from dust.

Duykerbok (n.) A small South African antelope (Cephalous mergens); -- called also impoon, and deloo.

Easter (v. i.) To veer to the east; -- said of the wind.

Easterling (n.) A native of a country eastward of another; -- used, by the English, of traders or others from the coasts of the Baltic.

Either (a. & pron.) One of two; the one or the other; -- properly used of two things, but sometimes of a larger number, for any one.

Either (a. & pron.) Each of two; the one and the other; both; -- formerly, also, each of any number.

Ekaboron (n.) The name given by Mendelejeff in accordance with the periodic law, and by prediction, to a hypothetical element then unknown, but since discovered and named scandium; -- so called because it was a missing analogue of the boron group. See Scandium.

Elater (n.) Any beetle of the family Elateridae, having the habit, when laid on the back, of giving a sudden upward spring, by a quick movement of the articulation between the abdomen and thorax; -- called also click beetle, spring beetle, and snapping beetle.

Elaterite (n.) A mineral resin, of a blackish brown color, occurring in soft, flexible masses; -- called also mineral caoutchouc, and elastic bitumen.

Electrocute (v. t.) To execute or put to death by electricity. -- E*lec`tro*cu"tion, n. [Recent; Newspaper words]

Electromotor (n.) An apparatus or machine for producing motion and mechanical effects by the action of electricity; an electro-magnetic engine.

Electrotonic (a.) Of or pertaining to electrical tension; -- said of a supposed peculiar condition of a conducting circuit during its exposure to the action of another conducting circuit traversed by a uniform electric current when both circuits remain stationary.

Electron () One of those particles, having about one thousandth the mass of a hydrogen atom, which are projected from the cathode of a vacuum tube as the cathode rays and from radioactive substances as the beta rays; -- called also corpuscle. The electron carries (or is) a natural unit of negative electricity, equal to 3.4 x 10-10 electrostatic units. It has been detected only when in rapid motion; its mass, which is electromagnetic, is practically constant at the lesser speeds, but increases > Embarrass (v. t.) To involve in difficulties concerning money matters; to incumber with debt; to beset with urgent claims or demands; -- said of a person or his affairs; as, a man or his business is embarrassed when he can not meet his pecuniary engagements.

Emmetropia (n.) That refractive condition of the eye in which the rays of light are all brought accurately and without undue effort to a focus upon the retina; -- opposed to hypermetropia, myopia, an astigmatism.

Enamor (v. t.) To inflame with love; to charm; to captivate; -- with of, or with, before the person or thing; as, to be enamored with a lady; to be enamored of books or science.

Enchoric (a.) Belonging to, or used in, a country; native; domestic; popular; common; -- said especially of the written characters employed by the common people of ancient Egypt, in distinction from the hieroglyphics. See Demotic.

Encourage (v. t.) To give courage to; to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope; to raise, or to increase, the confidence of; to animate; enhearten; to incite; to help forward; -- the opposite of discourage.

Enhydrous (a.) Having water within; containing fluid drops; -- said of certain crystals.

Eosaurus (n.) An extinct marine reptile from the coal measures of Nova Scotia; -- so named because supposed to be of the earliest known reptiles.

Epiperipheral (a.) Connected with, or having its origin upon, the external surface of the body; -- especially applied to the feelings which originate at the extremities of nerves distributed on the outer surface, as the sensation produced by touching an object with the finger; -- opposed to entoperipheral.

Erythrina (n.) A genus of leguminous plants growing in the tropics; coral tree; -- so called from its red flowers.

Erythrite (n.) A colorless crystalErythrite (n.) A rose-red mineral, crystallized and earthy, a hydrous arseniate of cobalt, known also as cobalt bloom; -- called also erythrin or erythrine.

Erythrogen (n.) Carbon disulphide; -- so called from certain red compounds which it produces in combination with other substances.

Erythrogen (n.) A crystalErythroleic (a.) Having a red color and oily appearance; -- applied to a purple semifluid substance said to be obtained from archil.

Esoteric (a.) Designed for, and understood by, the specially initiated alone; not communicated, or not intelligible, to the general body of followers; private; interior; acroamatic; -- said of the private and more recondite instructions and doctrines of philosophers. Opposed to exoteric.

Esotery (n.) Mystery; esoterics; -- opposed to exotery.

Esquire (n.) Originally, a shield-bearer or armor-bearer, an attendant on a knight; in modern times, a title of dignity next in degree below knight and above gentleman; also, a title of office and courtesy; -- often shortened to squire.

Eucairite (n.) A metallic mineral, a selenide of copper and silver; -- so called by Berzelius on account of its being found soon after the discovery of the metal selenium.

Exocardial (a.) Situated or arising outside of the heat; as, exocardial murmurs; -- opposed to endocardiac.

Exoterical (a.) External; public; suitable to be imparted to the public; hence, capable of being readily or fully comprehended; -- opposed to esoteric, or secret.

Extrorse (a.) Facing outwards, or away from the axis of growth; -- said esp. of anthers occupying the outer side of the filament.

Factorage (n.) The allowance given to a factor, as a compensation for his services; -- called also a commission.

Factorial (n.) A name given to the factors of a continued product when the former are derivable from one and the same function F(x) by successively imparting a constant increment or decrement h to the independent variable. Thus the product F(x).F(x + h).F(x + 2h) . . . F[x + (n-1)h] is called a factorial term, and its several factors take the name of factorials.

Factorize (v. t.) To give warning to; -- said of a person in whose hands the effects of another are attached, the warning being to the effect that he shall not pay the money or deliver the property of the defendant in his hands to him, but appear and answer the suit of the plaintiff.

Facture (n.) The act or manner of making or doing anything; -- now used of a literary, musical, or pictorial production.

Falter (v. & n.) To fail in distinctness or regularity of exercise; -- said of the mind or of thought.

Father (n.) A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor; a founder of a race or family; -- in the plural, fathers, ancestors.

Father (n.) One of the chief esslesiastical authorities of the first centuries after Christ; -- often spoken of collectively as the Fathers; as, the Latin, Greek, or apostolic Fathers.

Fenugreek (n.) A plant (trigonella Foenum Graecum) cultivated for its strong-smelling seeds, which are

Firecrest (n.) A small European kinglet (Regulus ignicapillus), having a bright red crest; -- called also fire-crested wren.

Fissurella (n.) A genus of marine gastropod mollusks, having a conical or limpetlike shell, with an opening at the apex; -- called also keyhole limpet.

Flavored (a.) Having a distinct flavor; as, high-flavored wine.

Flexor (n.) A muscle which bends or flexes any part; as, the flexors of the arm or the hand; -- opposed to extensor.

Flobert (n.) A small cartridge designed for target shooting; -- sometimes called ball cap.

Flowering (a.) Having conspicuous flowers; -- used as an epithet with many names of plants; as, flowering ash; flowering dogwood; flowering almond, etc.

Footbreadth (n.) The breadth of a foot; -- used as a measure.

Foreground (n.) On a painting, and sometimes in a bas-relief, mosaic picture, or the like, that part of the scene represented, which is nearest to the spectator, and therefore occupies the lowest part of the work of art itself. Cf. Distance, n., 6.

Fossorious (a.) Adapted for digging; -- said of the legs of certain insects.

Foster (v. t.) Relating to nourishment; affording, receiving, or sharing nourishment or nurture; -- applied to father, mother, child, brother, etc., to indicate that the person so called stands in the relation of parent, child, brother, etc., as regards sustenance and nurture, but not by tie of blood.

Foumart (a.) The European polecat; -- called also European ferret, and fitchew. See Polecat.

Fourdrinier (n.) A machine used in making paper; -- so named from an early inventor of improvements in this class of machinery.

Fulgurata (n.) A spectro-electric tube in which the decomposition of a liquid by the passage of an electric spark is observed.

Fulgurating (a.) Resembling lightning; -- used to describe intense lancinating pains accompanying locomotor ataxy.

Fulguration (n.) The sudden brightening of a fused globule of gold or silver, when the last film of the oxide of lead or copper leaves its surface; -- also called blick.

Fuller (a.) A die; a half-round set hammer, used for forming grooves and spreading iron; -- called also a creaser.

Fulmar (n.) One of several species of sea birds, of the family procellariidae, allied to the albatrosses and petrels. Among the well-known species are the arctic fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) (called also fulmar petrel, malduck, and mollemock), and the giant fulmar (Ossifraga gigantea).

Futhork (n.) The Runic alphabet; -- so called from the six letters f, u, / (th), o (or a), r, c (=k).

Furfuran (n.) A colorless, oily substance, C4H4O, obtained by distilling certain organic substances, as pine wood, salts of pyromucic acid, etc.; -- called also tetraphenol.

Furfurol (n.) A colorless oily liquid, C4H3O.CHO, of a pleasant odor, obtained by the distillation of bran, sugar, etc., and regarded as an aldehyde derivative of furfuran; -- called also furfural.

Gallery (a.) A long and narrow platform attached to one or more sides of public hall or the interior of a church, and supported by brackets or columns; -- sometimes intended to be occupied by musicians or spectators, sometimes designed merely to increase the capacity of the hall.

Gallery (a.) A frame, like a balcony, projecting from the stern or quarter of a ship, and hence called stern gallery or quarter gallery, -- seldom found in vessels built since 1850.

Gammer (n.) An old wife; an old woman; -- correlative of gaffer, an old man.

Gephyrean (a.) Belonging to the Gephyrea. -- n. One of the Gerphyrea.

Giaour (n.) An infidel; -- a term applied by Turks to disbelievers in the Mohammedan religion, especially Christrians.

Gibbartas (n.) One of several finback whales of the North Atlantic; -- called also Jupiter whale.

Gongorism (n.) An affected elegance or euphuism of style, for which the Spanish poet Gongora y Argote (1561-1627), among others of his time, was noted.

Goldcrest (n.) The European golden-crested kinglet (Regulus cristatus, or R. regulus); -- called also golden-crested wren, and golden wren. The name is also sometimes applied to the American golden-crested kinglet. See Kinglet.

Gopher (n.) One of several western American species of the genus Spermophilus, of the family Sciuridae; as, the gray gopher (Spermophilus Franklini) and the striped gopher (S. tridecemGorgerin (n.) In some columns, that part of the capital between the termination of the shaft and the annulet of the echinus, or the space between two neck moldings; -- called also neck of the capital, and hypotrachelium. See Illust. of Column.

Gregarin (n. pl.) An order of Protozoa, allied to the Rhizopoda, and parasitic in other animals, as in the earthworm, lobster, etc. When adult, they have a small, wormlike body inclosing a nucleus, but without external organs; in one of the young stages, they are amoebiform; -- called also Gregarinida, and Gregarinaria.

Grocery (n.) The commodities sold by grocers, as tea, coffee, spices, etc.; -- in the United States almost always in the plural form, in this sense.

Grosgrain (a.) Of a coarse texture; -- applied to silk with a heavy thread running crosswise.

Guitar (n.) A stringed instrument of music resembling the lute or the violin, but larger, and having six strings, three of silk covered with silver wire, and three of catgut, -- played upon with the fingers.

Gummer (n.) A punch-cutting tool, or machine for deepening and enlarging the spaces between the teeth of a worn saw.

Haggard (a.) Having the expression of one wasted by want or suffering; hollow-eyed; having the features distorted or wasted, or anxious in appearance; as, haggard features, eyes.

Hammer (v. t.) To form in the mind; to shape by hard intellectual labor; -- usually with out.

Hammerhead (n.) A fresh-water fish; the stone-roller.

Hammerhead (n.) An African fruit bat (Hypsignathus monstrosus); -- so called from its large blunt nozzle.

Hanker (v. i.) To long (for) with a keen appetite and uneasiness; to have a vehement desire; -- usually with for or after; as, to hanker after fruit; to hanker after the diversions of the town.

Hansard (n.) An official report of proceedings in the British Parliament; -- so called from the name of the publishers.

Harper (n.) A brass coin bearing the emblem of a harp, -- formerly current in Ireland.

Hatter (v. t.) To tire or worry; -- out.

Hatteria (n.) A New Zealand lizard, which, in anatomical character, differs widely from all other existing lizards. It is the only living representative of the order Rhynchocephala, of which many Mesozoic fossil species are known; -- called also Sphenodon, and Tuatera.

Heckerism (n.) The teaching of Isaac Thomas Hecker (1819-88), which interprets Catholicism as promoting human aspirations after liberty and truth, and as the religion best suited to the character and institutions of the American people.

Hexagram (n.) In Chinese literature, one of the sixty-four figures formed of six parallel Heeler (n.) A dependent and subservient hanger-on of a political patron.

Hemitropous (a.) Having the raphe terminating about half way between the chalaza and the orifice; amphitropous; -- said of an ovule.

Herborize (v. t.) To form the figures of plants in; -- said in reference to minerals. See Arborized.

Hinder (a.) To keep back or behind; to prevent from starting or moving forward; to check; to retard; to obstruct; to bring to a full stop; -- often followed by from; as, an accident hindered the coach; drought hinders the growth of plants; to hinder me from going.

Hinderest (a.) Hindermost; -- superl. of Hind, a.

Hipparion (n.) An extinct genus of Tertiary mammals allied to the horse, but three-toed, having on each foot a small lateral hoof on each side of the main central one. It is believed to be one of the ancestral genera of the Horse family.

Hippurite (n.) A fossil bivalve mollusk of the genus Hippurites, of many species, having a conical, cup-shaped under valve, with a flattish upper valve or lid. Hippurites are found only in the Cretaceous rocks.

History (n.) A systematic, written account of events, particularly of those affecting a nation, institution, science, or art, and usually connected with a philosophical explanation of their causes; a true story, as distinguished from a romance; -- distinguished also from annals, which relate simply the facts and events of each year, in strict chronological order; from biography, which is the record of an individual's life; and from memoir, which is history composed from personal experience, ob> Hither (adv.) To this place; -- used with verbs signifying motion, and implying motion toward the speaker; correlate of hence and thither; as, to come or bring hither.

Hither (adv.) To this point, source, conclusion, design, etc.; -- in a sense not physical.

Hither (a.) Being on the side next or toward the person speaking; nearer; -- correlate of thither and farther; as, on the hither side of a hill.

Hinterland (n.) The land or region lying behind the coast district. The term is used esp. with reference to the so-called doctrine of the hinterland, sometimes advanced, that occupation of the coast supports a claim to an exclusive right to occupy, from time to time, the territory lying inland of the coast.

Hodograph (n.) A curve described by the moving extremity of a HolocrystalHomodromous (a.) Running in the same direction; -- said of stems twining round a support, or of the spiral succession of leaves on stems and their branches.

Homodromous (a.) Moving in the same direction; -- said of a lever or pulley in which the resistance and the actuating force are both on the same side of the fulcrum or axis.

Homographic (a.) Employing a single and separate character to represent each sound; -- said of certain methods of spelling words.

Hooper (n.) The European whistling, or wild, swan (Olor cygnus); -- called also hooper swan, whooping swan, and elk.

Hopper (n.) A chute, box, or receptacle, usually funnel-shaped with an opening at the lower part, for delivering or feeding any material, as to a machine; as, the wooden box with its trough through which grain passes into a mill by joining or shaking, or a funnel through which fuel passes into a furnace, or coal, etc., into a car.

Hopper (n.) A vessel for carrying waste, garbage, etc., out to sea, so constructed as to discharge its load by a mechanical contrivance; -- called also dumping scow.

Hungary (n.) A country in Central Europe, now a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Hypocrateriform (a.) hypocraterimorphous; salver-shaped.

Hypocraterimorphous (a.) Salver-shaped; having a slender tube, expanding suddenly above into a bowl-shaped or spreading border, as in the blossom of the phlox and the lilac.

HypocrystalHysterology (n.) A figure by which the ordinary course of thought is inverted in expression, and the last put first; -- called also hysteron proteron.

Ideogram (n.) A symbol used for convenience, or for abbreviation; as, 1, 2, 3, +, -, /, $, /, etc.

Idiograph (n.) A mark or signature peculiar to an individual; a trade-mark.

Immigrant (n.) One who immigrates; one who comes to a country for the purpose of permanent residence; -- correlative of emigrant.

Implore (v. t.) To call upon, or for, in supplication; to beseech; to prey to, or for, earnestly; to petition with urency; to entreat; to beg; -- followed directly by the word expressing the thing sought, or the person from whom it is sought.

Inappropriate (a.) Not instrument (to); not appropriate; unbecoming; unsuitable; not specially fitted; -- followed by to or for.

Incoercible (a.) Not capable of being reduced to the form of a liquid by pressure; -- said of any gas above its critical point; -- also particularly of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide, formerly regarded as incapable of liquefaction at any temperature or pressure.

Incoercible (a.) That can note be confined in, or excluded from, vessels, like ordinary fluids, gases, etc.; -- said of the imponderable fluids, heat, light, electricity, etc.

Indoors (adv.) Within the house; -- usually separated, in doors.

Inoperculate (a.) Having no operculum; -- said of certain gastropod shells.

Inspiration (n.) The act of inspiring or breathing in; breath; specif. (Physiol.), the drawing of air into the lungs, accomplished in mammals by elevation of the chest walls and flattening of the diaphragm; -- the opposite of expiration.

Inspire (v. t.) To draw in by the operation of breathing; to inhale; -- opposed to expire.

Inspire (v. i.) To draw in breath; to inhale air into the lungs; -- opposed to expire.

Inspired (a.) Communicated or given as by supernatural or divine inspiration; having divine authority; hence, sacred, holy; -- opposed to uninspired, profane, or secular; as, the inspired writings, that is, the Scriptures.

Integrity (n.) Moral soundness; honesty; freedom from corrupting influence or motive; -- used especially with reference to the fulfillment of contracts, the discharge of agencies, trusts, and the like; uprightness; rectitude.

Interradial (a.) Between the radii, or rays; -- in zoology, said of certain parts of radiate animals; as, the interradial plates of a starfish.

Interrupted (a.) Irregular; -- said of any arrangement whose symmetry is destroyed by local causes, as when leaflets are interposed among the leaves in a pinnate leaf.

Isomeric (a.) Having the same percentage composition; -- said of two or more different substances which contain the same ingredients in the same proportions by weight, often used with with. Specif.: (a) Polymeric; i. e., having the same elements united in the same proportion by weight, but with different molecular weights; as, acetylene and benzine are isomeric (polymeric) with each other in this sense. See Polymeric. (b) Metameric; i. e., having the same elements united in the same proportion> January (n.) The first month of the year, containing thirty-one days.

Jeffersonia (n.) An American herb with a pretty, white, solitary blossom, and deeply two-cleft leaves (Jeffersonia diphylla); twinleaf.

Jeffersonite (n.) A variety of pyroxene of olive-green color passing into brown. It contains zinc.

Jester (n.) A buffoon; a merry-andrew; a court fool.

Joiner (n.) A wood-working machine, for sawing, plaining, mortising, tenoning, grooving, etc.

Jumper (n.) an instrument for boring holes in rocks by percussion without hammering, consisting of a bar of iron with a chisel-edged steel tip at one or both ends, operated by striking it against the rock, turning it slightly with each blow.

Jowter (n.) A mounted peddler of fish; -- called also jouster.

Jumper (n.) A rude kind of sleigh; -- usually, a simple box on runners which are in one piece with the poles that form the thills.

Keeler (n.) One employed in managing a Newcastle keel; -- called also keelman.

Kilderkin (n.) A small barrel; an old liquid measure containing eighteen English beer gallons, or nearly twenty-two gallons, United States measure.

Kindergarten (n.) A school for young children, conducted on the theory that education should be begun by gratifying and cultivating the normal aptitude for exercise, play, observation, imitation, and construction; -- a name given by Friedrich Froebel, a German educator, who introduced this method of training, in rooms opening on a garden.

Kingtruss () A truss, framed with a king-post; -- used in roofs, bridges, etc.

Kipper (n.) A salmon split open, salted, and dried or smoked; -- so called because salmon after spawning were usually so cured, not being good when fresh.

Kipper (a.) Amorous; also, lively; light-footed; nimble; gay; sprightly.

Kneebrush (n.) A tuft or brush of hair on the knees of some species of antelopes and other animals; -- chiefly used in the plural.

Kneebrush (n.) A thick mass or collection of hairs on the legs of bees, by aid of which they carry the collected pollen to the hive or nest; -- usually in the plural.

Kosher (a.) Ceremonially clean, according to Jewish law; -- applied to food, esp. to meat of animals slaughtered according to the requirements of Jewish law. Opposed to tref. Hence, designating a shop, store, house, etc., where such food is sold or used.

Krameric (a.) Pertaining to, or derived from, Krameria (rhatany); as, krameric acid, usually called ratanhia-tannic acid.

Kupfernickel (n.) Copper-nickel; niccolite. See Niccolite.

Kymograph (n.) An instrument for measuring, and recording graphically, the pressure of the blood in any of the blood vessels of a living animal; -- called also kymographion.

Kulturkampf (n.) Lit., culture war; -- a name, originating with Virchow (1821 -- 1902), given to a struggle between the the Roman Catholic Church and the German government, chiefly over the latter's efforts to control educational and ecclesiastical appointments in the interest of the political policy of centralization. The struggle began with the passage by the Prussian Diet in May, 1873, of the so-called May laws, or Falk laws, aiming at the regulation of the clergy. Opposition eventually com> Lacwork (n.) Ornamentation by means of lacquer painted or carved, or simply colored, sprinkled with gold or the like; -- said especially of Oriental work of this kind.

Lammergeier (n.) A very large vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), which inhabits the mountains of Southern Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. When full-grown it is nine or ten feet in extent of wings. It is brownish black above, with the under parts and neck rusty yellow; the forehead and crown white; the sides of the head and beard black. It feeds partly on carrion and partly on small animals, which it kills. It has the habit of carrying tortoises and marrow bones to a great height, and dropping the> Langarey (n.) One of numerous species of long-winged, shrikelike birds of Australia and the East Indies, of the genus Artamus, and allied genera; called also wood swallow.

Lanneret (n. m.) A long-tailed falcon (Falco lanarius), of Southern Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa, resembling the American prairie falcon.

Lantern (n.) Something inclosing a light, and protecting it from wind, rain, etc. ; -- sometimes portable, as a closed vessel or case of horn, perforated tin, glass, oiled paper, or other material, having a lamp or candle within; sometimes fixed, as the glazed inclosure of a street light, or of a lighthouse light.

Lantern (n.) A kind of cage inserted in a stuffing box and surrounding a piston rod, to separate the packing into two parts and form a chamber between for the reception of steam, etc. ; -- called also lantern brass.

Lanyard (n.) A short piece of rope or Lapstrake (a.) Made with boards whose edges lap one over another; clinker-built; -- said of boats.

Lasher (n.) A piece of rope for binding or making fast one thing to another; -- called also lashing.

Latter (a.) Later; more recent; coming or happening after something else; -- opposed to former; as, the former and latter rain.

Lawyer (n.) The black-necked stilt. See Stilt.

Lazzaroni (n. pl.) The homeless idlers of Naples who live by chance work or begging; -- so called from the Hospital of St. Lazarus, which serves as their refuge.

Lecherous (a.) Like a lecher; addicted to lewdness; lustful; also, lust-provoking.

Leeward (a.) Pertaining to, or in the direction of, the part or side toward which the wind blows; -- opposed to windward; as, a leeward berth; a leeward ship.

Leghorn (n.) A straw plaiting used for bonnets and hats, made from the straw of a particular kind of wheat, grown for the purpose in Tuscany, Italy; -- so called from Leghorn, the place of exportation.

Leiotrichi (n. pl.) The division of mankind which embraces the smooth-haired races.

Leptorhine (a.) Having the nose narrow; -- said esp. of the skull. Opposed to platyrhine.

Letterpress (n.) Print; letters and words impressed on paper or other material by types; -- often used of the reading matter in distinction from the illustrations.

Letterwood (n.) The beautiful and highly elastic wood of a tree of the genus Brosimum (B. Aubletii), found in Guiana; -- so called from black spots in it which bear some resemblance to hieroglyphics; also called snakewood, and leopardwood. It is much used for bows and for walking sticks.

Lieberkuhn (n.) A concave metallic mirror attached to the object-glass end of a microscope, to throw down light on opaque objects; a reflector.

Linger (v. t.) To spend or pass in a lingering manner; -- with out; as, to linger out one's days on a sick bed.

Lipogram (n.) A writing composed of words not having a certain letter or letters; -- as in the Odyssey of Tryphiodorus there was no A in the first book, no B in the second, and so on.

Liquor (n.) A solution of a medicinal substance in water; -- distinguished from tincture and aqua.

Listerism (n.) The systematic use of antiseptics in the performance of operations and the treatment of wounds; -- so called from Joseph Lister, an English surgeon.

Litter (v. t.) To give birth to; to bear; -- said of brutes, esp. those which produce more than one at a birth, and also of human beings, in abhorrence or contempt.

Littoral (a.) Inhabiting the seashore, esp. the zone between high-water and low-water mark.

Littorina (n.) A genus of small pectinibranch mollusks, having thick spiral shells, abundant between tides on nearly all rocky seacoasts. They feed on seaweeds. The common periwinkle is a well-known example. See Periwinkle.

Liederkranz (n.) Lit., wreath of songs; -- used as the title of a group of songs, and esp. as the common name for German vocal clubs of men.

Lister (n.) A double-moldboard plow which throws a deep furrow, and at the same time plants and covers grain in the bottom of the furrow.

Lofter (n.) An iron club used in lofting the ball; -- called also lofting iron.

Loggerhead (n.) A very large marine turtle (Thalassochelys caretta, / caouana), common in the warmer parts of the Atlantic Ocean, from Brazil to Cape Cod; -- called also logger-headed turtle.

Logography (n.) A mode of reporting speeches without using shorthand, -- a number of reporters, each in succession, taking down three or four words.

Logogriph (n.) A sort of riddle in which it is required to discover a chosen word from various combinations of its letters, or of some of its letters, which form other words; -- thus, to discover the chosen word chatter form cat, hat, rat, hate, rate, etc.

Lowborn (a.) Born in a low condition or rank; -- opposed to highborn.

Lumper (n.) The European eelpout; -- called also lumpen.

Manograph (n.) An optical device for making an indicator diagram for high-speed engines. It consists of a light-tight box or camera having at one end a small convex mirror which reflects a beam of light on to the ground glass or photographic plate at the other end. The mirror is pivoted so that it can be moved in one direction by a small plunger operated by an elastic metal diaphragm which closes a tube connected with the engine cylinder. It is also moved at right angles to this direction by a> Margaryize (v. t.) To impregnate (wood) with a preservative solution of copper sulphate (often called Mar"ga*ry's flu"id [-r/z]).

Mavourneen (n.) My darling; -- an Irish term of endearment for a girl or woman.

Madwort (n.) A genus of cruciferous plants (Alyssum) with white or yellow flowers and rounded pods. A. maritimum is the commonly cultivated sweet alyssum, a fragrant white-flowered annual.

Mainprise (v. t.) To suffer to go at large, on his finding sureties, or mainpernors, for his appearance at a day; -- said of a prisoner.

Mandarin (n.) A small orange, with easily separable rind. It is thought to be of Chinese origin, and is counted a distinct species (Citrus nobilis)mandarin orange; tangerine --.

Mandore (n.) A kind of four-stringed lute.

Manner (n.) Carriage; behavior; deportment; also, becoming behavior; well-bred carriage and address.

Manner (n.) Sort; kind; style; -- in this application sometimes having the sense of a plural, sorts or kinds.

Manubrium (n.) The proboscis of a jellyfish; -- called also hypostoma. See Illust. of Hydromedusa.

Margarate (n.) A compound of the so-called margaric acid with a base.

Margarous (a.) Margaric; -- formerly designating a supposed acid.

Marjoram (n.) A genus of mintlike plants (Origanum) comprising about twenty-five species. The sweet marjoram (O. Majorana) is pecularly aromatic and fragrant, and much used in cookery. The wild marjoram of Europe and America is O. vulgare, far less fragrant than the other.

Marver (n.) A stone, or cast-iron plate, or former, on which hot glass is rolled to give it shape.

Master (n.) A vessel having (so many) masts; -- used only in compounds; as, a two-master.

Master (n.) A male person having another living being so far subject to his will, that he can, in the main, control his or its actions; -- formerly used with much more extensive application than now. (a) The employer of a servant. (b) The owner of a slave. (c) The person to whom an apprentice is articled. (d) A sovereign, prince, or feudal noble; a chief, or one exercising similar authority. (e) The head of a household. (f) The male head of a school or college. (g) A male teacher. (h) The dire> Master (n.) A title given by courtesy, now commonly pronounced mister, except when given to boys; -- sometimes written Mister, but usually abbreviated to Mr.

Master (n.) The commander of a merchant vessel; -- usually called captain. Also, a commissioned officer in the navy ranking next above ensign and below lieutenant; formerly, an officer on a man-of-war who had immediate charge, under the commander, of sailing the vessel.

Masterpiece (n.) Anything done or made with extraordinary skill; a capital performance; a chef-d'oeuvre; a supreme achievement.

Masturbation (n.) Onanism; self-pollution.

Matter (n.) Affair worthy of account; thing of consequence; importance; significance; moment; -- chiefly in the phrases what matter 0 d h p u z no matter, and the like.

Matter (n.) Amount; quantity; portion; space; -- often indefinite.

Matter (n.) That which is permanent, or is supposed to be given, and in or upon which changes are effected by psychological or physical processes and relations; -- opposed to form.

Maybird (n.) The whimbrel; -- called also May fowl, May curlew, and May whaap.

Measure (n.) To allot or distribute by measure; to set off or apart by measure; -- often with out or off.

Membered (a.) Having limbs; -- chiefly used in composition.

Membered (a.) Having legs of a different tincture from that of the body; -- said of a bird in heraldic representations.

Mercurial (a.) Having the form or image of Mercury; -- applied to ancient guideposts.

Mercurial (a.) Of or pertaining to Mercury as the god of trade; hence, money-making; crafty.

Mercuric (a.) Of, pertaining to, or derived from, mercury; containing mercury; -- said of those compounds of mercury into which this element enters in its lowest proportion.

Mercurous (a.) Of, pertaining to, or derived from, mercury; containing mercury; -- said of those compounds of mercury in which it is present in its highest proportion.

Mercury (n.) A Latin god of commerce and gain; -- treated by the poets as identical with the Greek Hermes, messenger of the gods, conductor of souls to the lower world, and god of eloquence.

Mesotrochal (a.) Having the middle of the body surrounded by bands of cilia; -- said of the larvae of certain marine annelids.

Miller (n.) A moth or lepidopterous insect; -- so called because the wings appear as if covered with white dust or powder, like a miller's clothes. Called also moth miller.

Millerite (n.) A sulphide of nickel, commonly occurring in delicate capillary crystals, also in incrustations of a bronze yellow; -- sometimes called hair pyrites.

Mimicry (n.) Protective resemblance; the resemblance which certain animals and plants exhibit to other animals and plants or to the natural objects among which they live, -- a characteristic which serves as their chief means of protection against enemies; imitation; mimesis; mimetism.

Mirror (n.) A looking-glass or a speculum; any glass or polished substance that forms images by the reflection of rays of light.

Mixture (n.) That which results from mixing different ingredients together; a compound; as, to drink a mixture of molasses and water; -- also, a medley.

Mixture (n.) A mass of two or more ingredients, the particles of which are separable, independent, and uncompounded with each other, no matter how thoroughly and finely commingled; -- contrasted with a compound; thus, gunpowder is a mechanical mixture of carbon, sulphur, and niter.

Mixture (n.) An organ stop, comprising from two to five ranges of pipes, used only in combination with the foundation and compound stops; -- called also furniture stop. It consists of high harmonics, or overtones, of the ground tone.

Monger (n.) A trader; a dealer; -- now used chiefly in composition; as, fishmonger, ironmonger, newsmonger.

Monger (v. t.) To deal in; to make merchandise of; to traffic in; -- used chiefly of discreditable traffic.

Monkery (n.) The life of monks; monastic life; monastic usage or customs; -- now usually applied by way of reproach.

Monobasic (a.) Capable of being neutralized by a univalent base or basic radical; having but one acid hydrogen atom to be replaced; -- said of acids; as, acetic, nitric, and hydrochloric acids are monobasic.

Monstrous (a.) Extraordinary in a way to excite wonder, dislike, apprehension, etc.; -- said of size, appearance, color, sound, etc.; as, a monstrous height; a monstrous ox; a monstrous story.

Mortar (n.) A short piece of ordnance, used for throwing bombs, carcasses, shells, etc., at high angles of elevation, as 45?, and even higher; -- so named from its resemblance in shape to the utensil above described.

Mortar (n.) A building material made by mixing lime, cement, or plaster of Paris, with sand, water, and sometimes other materials; -- used in masonry for joining stones, bricks, etc., also for plastering, and in other ways.

Motherland (n.) The country of one's ancestors; -- same as fatherland.

Motograph (n.) A device utilized in the making of a loud-speaking telephone, depending on the fact that the friction between a metallic point and a moving cylinder of moistened chalk, or a moving slip of paper, on which it rests is diminished by the passage of a current between the point and the moving surface.

Mugwort (n.) A somewhat aromatic composite weed (Artemisia vulgaris), at one time used medicinally; -- called also motherwort.

Murderer (n.) A small cannon, formerly used for clearing a ship's decks of boarders; -- called also murdering piece.

Murmur (v. i.) To utter complaints in a low, half-articulated voice; to feel or express dissatisfaction or discontent; to grumble; -- often with at or against.

Muscardin (n.) The common European dormouse; -- so named from its odor.

Myochrome (n.) A colored albuminous substance in the serum from red-colored muscles. It is identical with hemoglobin.

Mystery (a.) A kind of secret religious celebration, to which none were admitted except those who had been initiated by certain preparatory ceremonies; -- usually plural; as, the Eleusinian mysteries.

Nasturtium (n.) Any plant of the genus Tropaeolum, geraniaceous herbs, having mostly climbing stems, peltate leaves, and spurred flowers, and including the common Indian cress (Tropaeolum majus), the canary-bird flower (T. peregrinum), and about thirty more species, all natives of South America. The whole plant has a warm pungent flavor, and the fleshy fruits are used as a substitute for capers, while the leaves and flowers are sometimes used in salads.

Neckerchief (n.) A kerchief for the neck; -- called also neck handkerchief.

Nectariferous (a.) Secreting nectar; -- said of blossoms or their parts.

Nectarine (n.) A smooth-skinned variety of peach.

Nether (a.) Situated down or below; lying beneath, or in the lower part; having a lower position; belonging to the region below; lower; under; -- opposed to upper.

Nicker (v. t.) One of the night brawlers of London formerly noted for breaking windows with half-pence.

Nigger (n.) A negro; -- in vulgar derision or depreciation.

Nippers (n. pl.) A number of rope-yarns wound together, used to secure a cable to the messenger.

Nocturnal (a.) Of, pertaining to, done or occuring in, the night; as, nocturnal darkness, cries, expedition, etc.; -- opposed to diurnal.

Nocturne (n.) A night piece, or serenade. The name is now used for a certain graceful and expressive form of instrumental composition, as the nocturne for orchestra in Mendelsohn's "Midsummer-Night's Dream" music.

Nonjuring (a.) Not swearing allegiance; -- applied to the party in Great Britain that would not swear allegiance to William and Mary, or their successors.

Nonpareil (a.) Something of unequaled excellence; a peerless thing or person; a nonesuch; -- often used as a name.

Number (n.) That which is regulated by count; poetic measure, as divisions of time or number of syllables; hence, poetry, verse; -- chiefly used in the plural.

Nuphar (n.) A genus of plants found in the fresh-water ponds or lakes of Europe, Asia, and North America; the yellow water lily. Cf. Nymphaea.

Ophiuroidea (n. pl.) A class of star-shaped echinoderms having a disklike body, with slender, articulated arms, which are not grooved beneath and are often very fragile; -- called also Ophiuroida and Ophiuridea. See Illust. under Brittle star.

Orator (n.) An officer who is the voice of the university upon all public occasions, who writes, reads, and records all letters of a public nature, presents, with an appropriate address, those persons on whom honorary degrees are to be conferred, and performs other like duties; -- called also public orator.

Orchard (n.) An inclosure containing fruit trees; also, the fruit trees, collectively; -- used especially of apples, peaches, pears, cherries, plums, or the like, less frequently of nutbearing trees and of sugar maple trees.

Ossifragous (a.) Serving to break bones; bone-breaking.

Outspread (v. t.) To spread out; to expand; -- usually as a past part. / adj.

Outward (a.) Forming the superficial part; external; exterior; -- opposed to inward; as, an outward garment or layer.

Oviferous (a.) Egg-bearing; -- applied particularly to certain receptacles, as in Crustacea, that retain the eggs after they have been excluded from the formative organs, until they are hatched.

Oviform (a.) Having the form or figure of an egg; egg-shaped; as, an oviform leaf.

Ovipara (n. pl.) An artifical division of vertebrates, including those that lay eggs; -- opposed to Vivipara.

Oviparous (a.) Producing young from rggs; as, an oviparous animal, in which the egg is generally separated from the animal, and hatched after exclusion; -- opposed to viviparous.

Oxheart (n.) A large heart-shaped cherry, either black, red, or white.

Packer (n.) A ring of packing or a special device to render gas-tight and water-tight the space between the tubing and bore of an oil well.

Pastorium (n.) A parsonage; -- so called in some Baptist churches.

Pandora (n.) A beautiful woman (all-gifted), whom Jupiter caused Vulcan to make out of clay in order to punish the human race, because Prometheus had stolen the fire from heaven. Jupiter gave Pandora a box containing all human ills, which, when the box was opened, escaped and spread over the earth. Hope alone remained in the box. Another version makes the box contain all the blessings of the gods, which were lost to men when Pandora opened it.

Panduriform (a.) Obovate, with a concavity in each side, like the body of a violin; fiddle-shaped; as, a panduriform leaf; panduriform color markings of an animal.

Parlor (n.) In large private houses, a sitting room for the family and for familiar guests, -- a room for less formal uses than the drawing-room. Esp., in modern times, the dining room of a house having few apartments, as a London house, where the dining parlor is usually on the ground floor.

Parlor (n.) Commonly, in the United States, a drawing-room, or the room where visitors are received and entertained.

Pastorale (n.) A composition in a soft, rural style, generally in 6-8 or 12-8 time.

Pattern (n.) A full-sized model around which a mold of sand is made, to receive the melted metal. It is usually made of wood and in several parts, so as to be removed from the mold without injuring it.

Peabird (n.) The wryneck; -- so called from its note.

Peeler (n.) A nickname for a policeman; -- so called from Sir Robert Peel.

Pepper (n.) A well-known, pungently aromatic condiment, the dried berry, either whole or powdered, of the Piper nigrum.

Pepperer (n.) A grocer; -- formerly so called because he sold pepper.

Peppergrass (n.) Any herb of the cruciferous genus Lepidium, especially the garden peppergrass, or garden cress, Lepidium sativum; -- called also pepperwort. All the species have a pungent flavor.

Pepperidge (n.) A North American tree (Nyssa multiflora) with very tough wood, handsome oval polished leaves, and very acid berries, -- the sour gum, or common tupelo. See Tupelo.

Peppermint (n.) A volatile oil (oil of peppermint) distilled from the fresh herb; also, a well-known essence or spirit (essence of peppermint) obtained from it.

Peppery (a.) Fig.: Hot-tempered; passionate; choleric.

Perforata (n. pl.) A division of corals including those that have a porous texture, as Porites and Madrepora; -- opposed to Aporosa.

Perjure (v. t.) To cause to violate an oath or a vow; to cause to make oath knowingly to what is untrue; to make guilty of perjury; to forswear; to corrupt; -- often used reflexively; as, he perjured himself.

Pervert (n.) One who has been perverted; one who has turned to error, especially in religion; -- opposed to convert. See the Synonym of Convert.

Phanerocodonic (a.) Having an umbrella-shaped or bell-shaped body, with a wide, open cavity beneath; -- said of certain jellyfishes.

PhanerocrystalPhanerogamous (a.) Having visible flowers containing distinct stamens and pistils; -- said of plants.

Phaneroglossal (a.) Having a conspicious tongue; -- said of certain reptiles and insects.

Pibcorn (n.) A wind instrument or pipe, with a horn at each end, -- used in Wales.

Picker (n.) One who, or that which, picks, in any sense, -- as, one who uses a pick; one who gathers; a thief; a pick; a pickax; as, a cotton picker.

Pickerel (n.) The glasseye, or wall-eyed pike. See Wall-eye.

Pindar (n.) The peanut (Arachis hypogaea); -- so called in the West Indies.

Plater (n.) A horse that runs chiefly in plate, esp. selling-plate, races; hence, an inferior race horse.

Planorbis (n.) Any fresh-water air-breathing mollusk belonging to Planorbis and other allied genera, having shells of a discoidal form.

Plateresque (a.) Resembling silver plate; -- said of certain architectural ornaments.

Platyrhine (a.) Having the nose broad; -- opposed to leptorhine.

Platyrhini (n. pl.) A division of monkeys, including the American species, which have a broad nasal septum, thirty-six teeth, and usually a prehensile tail. See Monkey.

Pluperfect (a.) More than perfect; past perfect; -- said of the tense which denotes that an action or event was completed at or before the time of another past action or event.

Polverine (n.) Glassmaker's ashes; a kind of potash or pearlash, brought from the Levant and Syria, -- used in the manufacture of fine glass.

Polyarchist (n.) One who advocates polyarchy; -- opposed to monarchist.

Polycrotism (n.) That state or condition of the pulse in which the pulse curve, or sphygmogram, shows several secondary crests or elevations; -- contrasted with monocrotism and dicrotism.

Ponder (v. i.) To think; to deliberate; to muse; -- usually followed by on or over.

Ponderal (a.) Estimated or ascertained by weight; -- distinguished from numeral; as, a ponderal drachma.

Poniard (n.) A kind of dagger, -- usually a slender one with a triangular or square blade.

Poplar (n.) The timber of the tulip tree; -- called also white poplar.

Porter (n.) A bar of iron or steel at the end of which a forging is made; esp., a long, large bar, to the end of which a heavy forging is attached, and by means of which the forging is lifted and handled in hammering and heating; -- called also porter bar.

Posterior (a.) Later in time; hence, later in the order of proceeding or moving; coming after; -- opposed to prior.

Posterior (a.) Situated behind; hinder; -- opposed to anterior.

Posterior (a.) At or toward the caudal extremity; caudal; -- in human anatomy often used for dorsal.

Posterior (a.) On the side next the axis of inflorescence; -- said of an axillary flower.

Posteriority (n.) The state of being later or subsequent; as, posteriority of time, or of an event; -- opposed to priority.

Posterity (n.) The race that proceeds from a progenitor; offspring to the furthest generation; the aggregate number of persons who are descended from an ancestor of a generation; descendants; -- contrasted with ancestry; as, the posterity of Abraham.

Postero () - (/). A combining form meaning posterior, back; as, postero-inferior, situated back and below; postero-lateral, situated back and at the side.

Postprandial (a.) Happening, or done, after dinner; after-dinner; as, postprandial speeches.

Potter (n.) The red-bellied terrapin. See Terrapin.

Prefer (v. t.) To carry or bring (something) forward, or before one; hence, to bring for consideration, acceptance, judgment, etc.; to offer; to present; to proffer; to address; -- said especially of a request, prayer, petition, claim, charge, etc.

Prefer (v. t.) To set above or before something else in estimation, favor, or liking; to regard or honor before another; to hold in greater favor; to choose rather; -- often followed by to, before, or above.

Prescriptive (a.) Consisting in, or acquired by, immemorial or long-continued use and enjoyment; as, a prescriptive right of title; pleading the continuance and authority of long custom.

Preserve (n.) That which is preserved; fruit, etc., seasoned and kept by suitable preparation; esp., fruit cooked with sugar; -- commonly in the plural.

Preterit (a.) Past; -- applied to a tense which expresses an action or state as past.

Prinpriddle (n.) The long-tailed titmouse.

Proceres (n. pl.) An order of large birds; the Ratitae; -- called also Proceri.

Prochronism (n.) The dating of an event before the time it happened; an antedating; -- opposed to metachronism.

Procuration (n.) A sum of money paid formerly to the bishop or archdeacon, now to the ecclesiastical commissioners, by an incumbent, as a commutation for entertainment at the time of visitation; -- called also proxy.

Promorphology (n.) Crystallography of organic forms; -- a division of morphology created by Haeckel. It is essentially stereometric, and relates to a mathematical conception of organic forms. See Tectology.

Proper (a.) Pertaining to one of a species, but not common to the whole; not appellative; -- opposed to common; as, a proper name; Dublin is the proper name of a city.

Proper (a.) Represented in its natural color; -- said of any object used as a charge.

Proportion (n.) The equality or similarity of ratios, especially of geometrical ratios; or a relation among quantities such that the quotient of the first divided by the second is equal to that of the third divided by the fourth; -- called also geometrical proportion, in distinction from arithmetical proportion, or that in which the difference of the first and second is equal to the difference of the third and fourth.

Proterandrous (a.) Having the stamens come to maturity before the pistil; -- opposed to proterogynous.

Proteranthous (a.) Having flowers appearing before the leaves; -- said of certain plants.

Proterogynous (a.) Having the pistil come to maturity before the stamens; protogynous; -- opposed to proterandrous.

Pucker (v. t. & i.) To gather into small folds or wrinkles; to contract into ridges and furrows; to corrugate; -- often with up; as, to pucker up the mouth.

Puffer (n.) One who is employed by the owner or seller of goods sold at suction to bid up the price; a by-bidder.

Puffer (n.) Any plectognath fish which inflates its body, as the species of Tetrodon and Diodon; -- called also blower, puff-fish, swellfish, and globefish.

Purport (n.) To intend to show; to intend; to mean; to signify; to import; -- often with an object clause or infinitive.

Purpure (n.) Purple, -- represented in engraving by diagonal Purpuric (a.) Pertaining to or designating, a nitrogenous acid contained in uric acid. It is not known in the pure state, but forms well-known purple-red compounds (as murexide), whence its name.

Purpuriparous (a.) Producing, or connected with, a purple-colored secretion; as, the purpuriparous gland of certain gastropods.

Purser (n.) A commissioned officer in the navy who had charge of the provisions, clothing, and public moneys on shipboard; -- now called paymaster.

Puttyroot (n.) An American orchidaceous plant (Aplectrum hyemale) which flowers in early summer. Its slender naked rootstock produces each year a solid corm, filled with exceedingly glutinous matter, which sends up later a single large oval evergreen plaited leaf. Called also Adam-and-Eve.

Quaker (n.) One of a religious sect founded by George Fox, of Leicestershire, England, about 1650, -- the members of which call themselves Friends. They were called Quakers, originally, in derision. See Friend, n., 4.

Quaker (n.) Any grasshopper or locust of the genus (Edipoda; -- so called from the quaking noise made during flight.

Quaternary (a.) Later than, or subsequent to, the Tertiary; Post-tertiary; as, the Quaternary age, or Age of man.

Quaternity (n.) The union of four in one, as of four persons; -- analogous to the theological term trinity.

Quatorze (n.) The four aces, kings, queens, knaves, or tens, in the game of piquet; -- so called because quatorze counts as fourteen points.

Rackarock (n.) A Sprengel explosive consisting of potassium chlorate and mono-nitrobenzene.

Ragnarok (n.) The so-called "Twilight of the Gods" (called in German Gotterdammerung), the final destruction of the world in the great conflict between the Aesir (gods) on the one hand, and on the other, the gaints and the powers of Hel under the leadership of Loki (who is escaped from bondage).

Rafter (n.) Originally, any rough and somewhat heavy piece of timber. Now, commonly, one of the timbers of a roof which are put on sloping, according to the inclination of the roof. See Illust. of Queen-post.

Rancor (n.) The deepest malignity or spite; deep-seated enmity or malice; inveterate hatred.

Ranter (n.) One of a religious sect which sprung up in 1645; -- called also Seekers. See Seeker.

Ranter (n.) One of the Primitive Methodists, who seceded from the Wesleyan Methodists on the ground of their deficiency in fervor and zeal; -- so called in contempt.

Rapparee (n.) A wild Irish plunderer, esp. one of the 17th century; -- so called from his carrying a half-pike, called a rapary.

Raptorial (a.) Rapacious; living upon prey; -- said especially of certain birds.

Raptorial (a.) Adapted for seizing prey; -- said of the legs, claws, etc., of insects, birds, and other animals.

Readdress (v. t.) To address a second time; -- often used reflexively.

Reciprocal (a.) Reflexive; -- applied to pronouns and verbs, but sometimes limited to such pronouns as express mutual action.

Redstreak (n.) A kind of apple having the skin streaked with red and yellow, -- a favorite English cider apple.

Reefer (n.) A close-fitting lacket or short coat of thick cloth.

Reeler (n.) The grasshopper warbler; -- so called from its note.

Reentry (n.) A resuming or retaking possession of what one has lately foregone; -- applied especially to land; the entry by a lessor upon the premises leased, on failure of the tenant to pay rent or perform the covenants in the lease.

Render (v. i.) To pass; to run; -- said of the passage of a rope through a block, eyelet, etc.; as, a rope renders well, that is, passes freely; also, to yield or give way.

Renter (n.) One who rents or leases an estate; -- usually said of a lessee or tenant.

Renter (v. t.) To restore the original design of, by working in new warp; -- said with reference to tapestry.

Retiary (a.) Constructing or using a web, or net, to catch prey; -- said of certain spiders.

Rhymer (n.) One who makes rhymes; a versifier; -- generally in contempt; a poor poet; a poetaster.

Rhymery (n.) The art or habit of making rhymes; rhyming; -- in contempt.

Rhyparography (n.) In ancient art, the painting of genre or still-life pictures.

Ribwort (n.) A species of plantain (Plantago lanceolata) with long, narrow, ribbed leaves; -- called also rib grass, ripple grass, ribwort plantain.

Rinderpest (n.) A highly contagious distemper or murrain, affecting neat cattle, and less commonly sheep and goats; -- called also cattle plague, Russian cattle plague, and steppe murrain.

Rinforzando (a.) Increasing; strengthening; -- a direction indicating a sudden increase of force (abbreviated rf., rfz.) Cf. Forzando, and Sforzando.

Rocker (n.) A play horse on rockers; a rocking-horse.

Rocker (n.) A chair mounted on rockers; a rocking-chair.

Roller (n.) A long, belt-formed towel, to be suspended on a rolling cylinder; -- called also roller towel.

Rosicrucian (n.) One who, in the 17th century and the early part of the 18th, claimed to belong to a secret society of philosophers deeply versed in the secrets of nature, -- the alleged society having existed, it was stated, several hundred years.

Roxburgh (n.) A style of bookbinding in which the back is plain leather, the sides paper or cloth, the top gilt-edged, but the front and bottom left uncut.

Runner (n.) A food fish (Elagatis pinnulatus) of Florida and the West Indies; -- called also skipjack, shoemaker, and yellowtail. The name alludes to its rapid successive leaps from the water.

Rutterkin (n.) An old crafty fox or beguiler -- a word of contempt.

Sagebrush (n.) A low irregular shrub (Artemisia tridentata), of the order Compositae, covering vast tracts of the dry alkaSailer (n.) A ship or other vessel; -- with qualifying words descriptive of speed or manner of sailing; as, a heavy sailer; a fast sailer.

Saltarello (n.) A popular Italian dance in quick 3-4 or 6-8 time, running mostly in triplets, but with a hop step at the beginning of each measure. See Tarantella.

Saltire (v.) A St. Andrew's cross, or cross in the form of an X, -- one of the honorable ordinaries.

Saltirewise (adv.) In the manner of a saltire; -- said especially of the blazoning of a shield divided by two Sandarac (n.) A white or yellow resin obtained from a Barbary tree (Callitris quadrivalvis or Thuya articulata), and pulverized for pounce; -- probably so called from a resemblance to the mineral.

Sangaree (n.) Wine and water sweetened and spiced, -- a favorite West Indian drink.

Sauger (n.) An American fresh-water food fish (Stizostedion Canadense); -- called also gray pike, blue pike, hornfish, land pike, sand pike, pickering, and pickerel.

Sawhorse (n.) A kind of rack, shaped like a double St. Andrew's cross, on which sticks of wood are laid for sawing by hand; -- called also buck, and sawbuck.

Scalar (n.) In the quaternion analysis, a quantity that has magnitude, but not direction; -- distinguished from a vector, which has both magnitude and direction.

Sciagraph (n.) An old term for a vertical section of a building; -- called also sciagraphy. See Vertical section, under Section.

Semibreve (n.) A note of half the time or duration of the breve; -- now usually called a whole note. It is the longest note in general use.

Sempervivum (n.) A genus of fleshy-leaved plants, of which the houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum) is the commonest species.

Senior (n.) One in the fourth or final year of his collegiate course at an American college; -- originally called senior sophister; also, one in the last year of the course at a professional schools or at a seminary.

Sensory (a.) Of or pertaining to the sensorium or sensation; as, sensory impulses; -- especially applied to those nerves and nerve fibers which convey to a nerve center impulses resulting in sensation; also sometimes loosely employed in the sense of afferent, to indicate nerve fibers which convey impressions of any kind to a nerve center.

Sesterce (n.) A Roman coin or denomination of money, in value the fourth part of a denarius, and originally containing two asses and a half, afterward four asses, -- equal to about two pence sterling, or four cents.

Setter (n.) One who, or that which, sets; -- used mostly in composition with a noun, as typesetter; or in combination with an adverb, as a setter on (or inciter), a setter up, a setter forth.

Setter (n.) An adornment; a decoration; -- with off.

Setterwort (n.) The bear's-foot (Helleborus f/tidus); -- so called because the root was used in settering, or inserting setons into the dewlaps of cattle. Called also pegroots.

Shiver (n.) One of the small pieces, or splinters, into which a brittle thing is broken by sudden violence; -- generally used in the plural.

Showbread (n.) Bread of exhibition; loaves to set before God; -- the term used in translating the various phrases used in the Hebrew and Greek to designate the loaves of bread which the priest of the week placed before the Lord on the golden table in the sanctuary. They were made of fine flour unleavened, and were changed every Sabbath. The loaves, twelve in number, represented the twelve tribes of Israel. They were to be eaten by the priests only, and in the Holy Place.

Sifter (n.) Any lamellirostral bird, as a duck or goose; -- so called because it sifts or strains its food from the water and mud by means of the lamell/ of the beak.

Signore (n.) Sir; Mr.; -- a title of address or respect among the Italians. Before a noun the form is Signor.

Signora (n.) Madam; Mrs; -- a title of address or respect among the Italians.

Signorina (n.) Miss; -- a title of address among the Italians.

Silver (n.) A soft white metallic element, sonorous, ductile, very malleable, and capable of a high degree of polish. It is found native, and also combined with sulphur, arsenic, antimony, chlorine, etc., in the minerals argentite, proustite, pyrargyrite, ceragyrite, etc. Silver is one of the "noble" metals, so-called, not being easily oxidized, and is used for coin, jewelry, plate, and a great variety of articles. Symbol Ag (Argentum). Atomic weight 107.7. Specific gravity 10.5.

Silverfin (n.) A small North American fresh-water cyprinoid fish (Notropis Whipplei).

Simper (n.) A constrained, self-conscious smile; an affected, silly smile; a smirk.

Sinter (n.) Dross, as of iron; the scale which files from iron when hammered; -- applied as a name to various minerals.

Sister (n.) One of the same kind, or of the same condition; -- generally used adjectively; as, sister fruits.

Silverite (n.) One who favors the use or establishment of silver as a monetary standard; -- so called by those who favor the gold standard.

Sirdar (n.) In Turkey, Egypt, etc., a commander in chief, esp. the one commanding the Anglo-Egyptian army.

Skylark (n.) A lark that mounts and sings as it files, especially the common species (Alauda arvensis) found in Europe and in some parts of Asia, and celebrated for its melodious song; -- called also sky laverock. See under Lark.

Slider (n.) The red-bellied terrapin (Pseudemys rugosa).

Snider (n.) A breech-loading rifle formerly used in the British service; -- so called from the inventor.

Solferino (n.) A brilliant deep pink color with a purplish tinge, one of the dyes derived from aniSphaerenchyma (n.) Vegetable tissue composed of thin-walled rounded cells, -- a modification of parenchyma.

Squarrose (a.) Consisting of scales widely divaricating; having scales, small leaves, or other bodies, spreading widely from the axis on which they are crowded; -- said of a calyx or stem.

Squarrose (a.) Having scales spreading every way, or standing upright, or at right angles to the surface; -- said of a shell.

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

Stature (n.) The natural height of an animal body; -- generally used of the human body.

Stycerin (n.) A triacid alcohol, related to glycerin, and obtained from certain styryl derivatives as a yellow, gummy, amorphous substance; -- called also phenyl glycerin.

Submarine (n.) A submarine boat; esp., Nav., a submarine torpedo boat; -- called specif. submergible submarine when capable of operating at various depths and of traveling considerable distances under water, and submersible submarine when capable of being only partly submerged, i.e., so that the conning tower, etc., is still above water. The latter type and most of the former type are submerged as desired by regulating the amount of water admitted to the ballast tanks and sink on an even keel;> Subscribe (v. i.) To become surely; -- with for.

Subscription (n.) The acceptance of articles, or other tests tending to promote uniformity; esp. (Ch. of Eng.), formal assent to the Thirty-nine Articles and the Book of Common Prayer, required before ordination.

Sucker (n.) A small piece of leather, usually round, having a string attached to the center, which, when saturated with water and pressed upon a stone or other body having a smooth surface, adheres, by reason of the atmospheric pressure, with such force as to enable a considerable weight to be thus lifted by the string; -- used by children as a plaything.

Sucker (n.) A shoot from the roots or lower part of the stem of a plant; -- so called, perhaps, from diverting nourishment from the body of the plant.

Sucker (n.) Any one of numerous species of North American fresh-water cyprinoid fishes of the family Catostomidae; so called because the lips are protrusile. The flesh is coarse, and they are of little value as food. The most common species of the Eastern United States are the northern sucker (Catostomus Commersoni), the white sucker (C. teres), the hog sucker (C. nigricans), and the chub, or sweet sucker (Erimyzon sucetta). Some of the large Western species are called buffalo fish, red horse,> Sucker (n.) A California food fish (Menticirrus undulatus) closely allied to the kingfish (a); -- called also bagre.

Superroyal (a.) Larger than royal; -- said of a particular size of printing and writing paper. See the Note under Paper, n.

Suwarrow (n.) The giant cactus (Cereus giganteus); -- so named by the Indians of Arizona. Called also saguaro.

Tabouret (n.) A seat without arms or back, cushioned and stuffed: a high stool; -- so called from its resemblance to a drum.

Tailor (n.) The mattowacca; -- called also tailor herring.

Talker (n.) A loquacious person, male or female; a prattler; a babbler; also, a boaster; a braggart; -- used in contempt or reproach.

Tapper (n.) The lesser spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus minor); -- called also tapperer, tabberer, little wood pie, barred woodpecker, wood tapper, hickwall, and pump borer.

Tartar (n.) A reddish crust or sediment in wine casks, consisting essentially of crude cream of tartar, and used in marking pure cream of tartar, tartaric acid, potassium carbonate, black flux, etc., and, in dyeing, as a mordant for woolen goods; -- called also argol, wine stone, etc.

Tartar (n.) A native or inhabitant of Tartary in Asia; a member of any one of numerous tribes, chiefly Moslem, of Turkish origin, inhabiting the Russian Europe; -- written also, more correctly but less usually, Tatar.

Tartarous (a.) Resembling, or characteristic of, a Tartar; ill-natured; irritable.

Tasker (n.) One who performs a task, as a day-laborer.

Taster (n.) One of a peculiar kind of zooids situated on the polyp-stem of certain Siphonophora. They somewhat resemble the feeding zooids, but are destitute of mouths. See Siphonophora.

Tatter (n.) A rag, or a part torn and hanging; -- chiefly used in the plural.

Tatter (v. t.) To rend or tear into rags; -- used chiefly in the past participle as an adjective.

Temperature (n.) The degree of heat of the body of a living being, esp. of the human body; also (Colloq.), loosely, the excess of this over the normal (of the human body 98?-99.5? F., in the mouth of an adult about 98.4?).

Tenderloin (n.) In New York City, the region which is the center of the night life of fashionable amusement, including the majority of the theaters, etc., centering on Broadway. The term orig. designates the old twenty-ninth police precinct, in this region, which afforded the police great opportunities for profit through conniving at vice and lawbreaking, one captain being reported to have said on being transferred there that whereas he had been eating chuck steak he would now eat tenderlion. > Tectorial (a.) Of or pertaining to covering; -- applied to a membrane immediately over the organ of Corti in the internal ear.

Teeter (v. i. & t.) To move up and down on the ends of a balanced plank, or the like, as children do for sport; to seesaw; to titter; to titter-totter.

Telluride (n.) A compound of tellurium with a more positive element or radical; -- formerly called telluret.

Tellurium (n.) A rare nonmetallic element, analogous to sulphur and selenium, occasionally found native as a substance of a silver-white metallic luster, but usually combined with metals, as with gold and silver in the mineral sylvanite, with mercury in Coloradoite, etc. Symbol Te. Atomic weight 125.2.

Tellurize (v. t.) To impregnate with, or to subject to the action of, tellurium; -- chiefly used adjectively in the past participle; as, tellurized ores.

Telotrochous (a.) Having both a preoral and a posterior band of cilla; -- applied to the larvae of certain annelids.

Temper (n.) Heat of mind or passion; irritation; proneness to anger; -- in a reproachful sense.

Tempered (a.) Brought to a proper temper; as, tempered steel; having (such) a temper; -- chiefly used in composition; as, a good-tempered or bad-tempered man; a well-tempered sword.

Temporal (n.) Anything temporal or secular; a temporality; -- used chiefly in the plural.

Temporality (n.) The state or quality of being temporary; -- opposed to perpetuity.

Temporality (n.) That which pertains to temporal welfare; material interests; especially, the revenue of an ecclesiastic proceeding from lands, tenements, or lay fees, tithes, and the like; -- chiefly used in the plural.

Temporariness (n.) The quality or state of being temporary; -- opposed to perpetuity.

Tender (superl.) Careful to save inviolate, or not to injure; -- with of.

Tender (superl.) Heeling over too easily when under sail; -- said of a vessel.

Tenebrae (n.) The matins and lauds for the last three days of Holy Week, commemorating the sufferings and death of Christ, -- usually sung on the afternoon or evening of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, instead of on the following days.

Tensor (n.) The ratio of one vector to another in length, no regard being had to the direction of the two vectors; -- so called because considered as a stretching factor in changing one vector into another. See Versor.

Tenter (n.) A machine or frame for stretching cloth by means of hooks, called tenter-hooks, so that it may dry even and square.

Tenuirostral (a.) Thin-billed; -- applied to birds with a slender bill, as the humming birds.

Terebrant (a.) Boring, or adapted for boring; -- said of certain Hymenoptera, as the sawflies.

Terebrating (a.) Boring; perforating; -- applied to molluskas which form holes in rocks, wood, etc.

Terebrating (a.) Boring; piercing; -- applied to certain kinds of pain, especially to those of locomotor ataxia.

Tester (n.) An old French silver coin, originally of the value of about eighteen pence, subsequently reduced to ninepence, and later to sixpence, sterling. Hence, in modern English slang, a sixpence; -- often contracted to tizzy. Called also teston.

Tetterwort (n.) A plant used as a remedy for tetter, -- in England the calendine, in America the bloodroot.

Theobromine (n.) An alkaloidal ureide, C7H8N4O2, homologous with and resembling caffeine, produced artificially, and also extracted from cacao and chocolate (from Theobroma Cacao) as a bitter white crystalTheocrasy (n.) An intimate union of the soul with God in contemplation, -- an ideal of the Neoplatonists and of some Oriental mystics.

Tilbury (n.) A kind of gig or two-wheeled carriage, without a top or cover.

Timber (n.) A certain quantity of fur skins, as of martens, ermines, sables, etc., packed between boards; being in some cases forty skins, in others one hundred and twenty; -- called also timmer.

Timber (n.) That sort of wood which is proper for buildings or for tools, utensils, furniture, carriages, fences, ships, and the like; -- usually said of felled trees, but sometimes of those standing. Cf. Lumber, 3.

Timber (v. t.) To furnish with timber; -- chiefly used in the past participle.

Timbered (a.) Furnished with timber; -- often compounded; as, a well-timbered house; a low-timbered house.

Timbered (a.) Covered with growth timber; wooden; as, well-timbered land.

Timberhead (n.) The top end of a timber, rising above the gunwale, and serving for belaying ropes, etc.; -- called also kevel head.

Tinker (n.) The razor-billed auk.

Tipper (n.) A kind of ale brewed with brackish water obtained from a particular well; -- so called from the first brewer of it, one Thomas Tipper.

Torbernite (n.) A mineral occurring in emerald-green tabular crystals having a micaceous structure. It is a hydrous phosphate of uranium and copper. Called also copper uranite, and chalcolite.

Topper (n.) A three-square float (file) used by comb makers.

Topper (n.) Tobacco left in the bottom of a pipe bowl; -- so called from its being often taken out and placed on top of the newly filled bowl. Also, a cigar stump.

Tractrix (n.) A curve such that the part of the tangent between the point of tangency and a given straight Trichromatic (a.) Having or existing in three different phases of color; having three distinct color varieties; -- said of certain birds and insects.

Trimorphous (a.) Of, pertaining to, or characterized by, trimorphism; -- contrasted with monomorphic, dimorphic, and polymorphic.

Trimorphism (n.) The coexistence among individuals of the same species of three distinct forms, not connected, as a rule, by intermediate gradations; the condition among individuals of the same species of having three different shapes or proportions of corresponding parts; -- contrasted with polymorphism, and dimorphism.

Trinervate (a.) Having three ribs or nerves extending unbranched from the base to the apex; -- said of a leaf.

Triparted (a.) Parted into three piece; having three parts or pieces; -- said of the field or of a bearing; as, a cross triparted.

Tripartient (a.) Dividing into three parts; -- said of a number which exactly divides another into three parts.

Triternate (a.) Three times ternate; -- applied to a leaf whose petiole separates into three branches, each of which divides into three parts which each bear three leafiets.

Tucker (v. t.) To tire; to weary; -- usually with out.

Tuatara (n.) A large iguanalike reptile (Sphenodon punctatum) formerly common in New Zealand, but now confined to certain islets near the coast. It reaches a length of two and a half feet, is dark olive-green with small white or yellowish specks on the sides, and has yellow spines along the back, except on the neck.

Unicorn (n.) A fabulous animal with one horn; the monoceros; -- often represented in heraldry as a supporter.

Unicorn (n.) A two-horned animal of some unknown kind, so called in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures.

Unicorn (n.) The kamichi; -- called also unicorn bird.

Unicornous (a.) Having but a single horn; -- said of certain insects.

Unicursal (a.) That can be passed over in a single course; -- said of a curve when the coordinates of the point on the curve can be expressed as rational algebraic functions of a single parameter /.

Uniformism (n.) The doctrine of uniformity in the geological history of the earth; -- in part equivalent to uniformitarianism, but also used, more broadly, as opposed to catastrophism.

Uniparous (a.) Producing but one axis of inflorescence; -- said of the scorpioid cyme.

Universal (a.) Of or pertaining to the universe; extending to, including, or affecting, the whole number, quantity, or space; unlimited; general; all-reaching; all-pervading; as, universal ruin; universal good; universal benevolence or benefice.

Universal (a.) Forming the whole of a genus; relatively unlimited in extension; affirmed or denied of the whole of a subject; as, a universal proposition; -- opposed to particular; e. g. (universal affirmative) All men are animals; (universal negative) No men are omniscient.

Universality (n.) The quality or state of being universal; unlimited extension or application; generality; -- distinguished from particularity; as, the unversality of a proposition; the unversality of sin; the unversality of the Deluge.

Upokororo (n.) An edible fresh-water New Zealand fish (Prototroctes oxyrhynchus) of the family Haplochitonidae. In general appearance and habits, it resembles the northern lake whitefishes and trout. Called also grayling.

Vampire (n.) A blood-sucking ghost; a soul of a dead person superstitiously believed to come from the grave and wander about by night sucking the blood of persons asleep, thus causing their death. This superstition is now prevalent in parts of Eastern Europe, and was especially current in Hungary about the year 1730.

Vampire (n.) Either one of two or more species of South American blood-sucking bats belonging to the genera Desmodus and Diphylla. These bats are destitute of molar teeth, but have strong, sharp cutting incisors with which they make punctured wounds from which they suck the blood of horses, cattle, and other animals, as well as man, chiefly during sleep. They have a caecal appendage to the stomach, in which the blood with which they gorge themselves is stored.

Variorum (a.) Containing notes by different persons; -- applied to a publication; as, a variorum edition of a book.

Venter (n.) The belly; the abdomen; -- sometimes applied to any large cavity containing viscera.

Victoria (n.) One of an American breed of medium-sized white hogs with a slightly dished face and very erect ears.

Vettura (n.) An Italian four-wheeled carriage, esp. one let for hire; a hackney coach.

Victor (n.) The winner in a contest; one who gets the better of another in any struggle; esp., one who defeats an enemy in battle; a vanquisher; a conqueror; -- often followed by art, rarely by of.

Victoria (n.) A genus of aquatic plants named in honor of Queen Victoria. The Victoria regia is a native of Guiana and Brazil. Its large, spreading leaves are often over five feet in diameter, and have a rim from three to five inches high; its immense rose-white flowers sometimes attain a diameter of nearly two feet.

Victoria (n.) A kind of low four-wheeled pleasure carriage, with a calash top, designed for two persons and the driver who occupies a high seat in front.

Victoria (n.) An asteroid discovered by Hind in 1850; -- called also Clio.

Victory (n.) The defeat of an enemy in battle, or of an antagonist in any contest; a gaining of the superiority in any struggle or competition; conquest; triumph; -- the opposite of defeat.

Volborthite (n.) A mineral occurring in small six-sided tabular crystals of a green or yellow color. It is a hydrous vanadate of copper and lime.

Waggery (n.) The manner or action of a wag; mischievous merriment; sportive trick or gayety; good-humored sarcasm; pleasantry; jocularity; as, the waggery of a schoolboy.

Wanderoo (n.) A large monkey (Macacus silenus) native of Malabar. It is black, or nearly so, but has a long white or gray beard encircling the face. Called also maha, silenus, neelbhunder, lion-tailed baboon, and great wanderoo.

Washerwoman (n.) The pied wagtail; -- so called in allusion to its beating the water with its tail while tripping along the leaves of water plants.

Waster (v. t.) An imperfection in the wick of a candle, causing it to waste; -- called also a thief.

Waster (v. t.) A kind of cudgel; also, a blunt-edged sword used as a foil.

Waxberry (n.) The wax-covered fruit of the wax myrtle, or bayberry. See Bayberry, and Candleberry tree.

Weaser (n.) The American merganser; -- called also weaser sheldrake.

Welfare (n.) Well-doing or well-being in any respect; the enjoyment of health and the common blessings of life; exemption from any evil or calamity; prosperity; happiness.

Whiterump (n.) The American black-tailed godwit.

Wiggery (n.) Any cover or screen, as red-tapism.

Winder (n.) One in a flight of steps which are curved in plan, so that each tread is broader at one end than at the other; -- distinguished from flyer.

Withernam (n.) A second or reciprocal distress of other goods in lieu of goods which were taken by a first distress and have been eloigned; a taking by way of reprisal; -- chiefly used in the expression capias in withernam, which is the name of a writ used in connection with the action of replevin (sometimes called a writ of reprisal), which issues to a defendant in replevin when he has obtained judgment for a return of the chattels replevied, and fails to obtain them on the writ of return.

Yardarm (n.) Either half of a square-rigged vessel's yard, from the center or mast to the end.

Yelper (n.) The avocet; -- so called from its sharp, shrill cry.

Yesterday (adv.) On the day last past; on the day preceding to-day; as, the affair took place yesterday.

Yestereve (n.) Alt. of Yester-evening

Zander (n.) A European pike perch (Stizostedion lucioperca) allied to the wall-eye; -- called also sandari, sander, sannat, schill, and zant.

Zephyrus (n.) The west wind, or zephyr; -- usually personified, and made the most mild and gentle of all the sylvan deities.

Zither (n.) An instrument of music used in Austria and Germany. It has from thirty to forty wires strung across a shallow sounding-board, which lies horizontally on a table before the performer, who uses both hands in playing on it. [Not to be confounded with the old lute-shaped cittern, or cithern.]

Zosterops (n.) A genus of birds that comprises the white-eyes. See White-eye.

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".

Copyright © 2011 Mark McCracken , All Rights Reserved.