Words whose 7th letter is O

Abutilon (n.) A genus of malvaceous plants of many species, found in the torrid and temperate zones of both continents; -- called also Indian mallow.

Acanthophorous (a.) Spine-bearing.

Acanthopterous (a.) Spiny-winged.

Acanthopterygian (n.) A spiny-finned fish.

Acanthopterygious (a.) Having fins in which the rays are hard and spinelike; spiny-finned.

Acclivous (a.) Sloping upward; rising as a hillside; -- opposed to declivous.

Accommodation (n.) The act of fitting or adapting, or the state of being fitted or adapted; adaptation; adjustment; -- followed by to.

Accommodation (n.) Whatever supplies a want or affords ease, refreshment, or convenience; anything furnished which is desired or needful; -- often in the plural; as, the accommodations -- that is, lodgings and food -- at an inn.

Accustom (v. t.) To make familiar by use; to habituate, familiarize, or inure; -- with to.

Acidulous (a.) Slightly sour; sub-acid; sourish; as, an acidulous tincture.

Acutifoliate (a.) Having sharp-pointed leaves.

Addition (n.) The act of adding two or more things together; -- opposed to subtraction or diminution.

Addition (n.) Something added to a coat of arms, as a mark of honor; -- opposed to abatement.

Adductor (n.) A muscle which draws a limb or part of the body toward the middle Adelocodonic (a.) Applied to sexual zooids of hydroids, that have a saclike form and do not become free; -- opposed to phanerocodonic.

Adelphous (a.) Having coalescent or clustered filaments; -- said of stamens; as, adelphous stamens. Usually in composition; as, monadelphous.

Aftermost (a. superl.) Hindmost; -- opposed to foremost.

Agitator (n.) One of a body of men appointed by the army, in Cromwell's time, to look after their interests; -- called also adjutators.

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.

Allantoin (n.) A crystalline, transparent, colorless substance found in the allantoic liquid of the fetal calf; -- formerly called allantoic acid and amniotic acid.

Allantoid (n.) A membranous appendage of the embryos of mammals, birds, and reptiles, -- in mammals serving to connect the fetus with the parent; the urinary vesicle.

Ambitious (a.) Strongly desirous; -- followed by of or the infinitive; as, ambitious to be or to do something.

Amblygon (n.) An obtuse-angled figure, esp. and obtuse-angled triangle.

Amblygonal (a.) Obtuse-angled.

Amphicoelous (a.) Having both ends concave; biconcave; -- said of vertebrae.

Amphipoda (n. pl.) A numerous group of fourteen -- footed Crustacea, inhabiting both fresh and salt water. The body is usually compressed laterally, and the anterior pairs or legs are directed downward and forward, but the posterior legs are usually turned upward and backward. The beach flea is an example. See Tetradecapoda and Arthrostraca.

Analogous (a.) Having analogy; corresponding to something else; bearing some resemblance or proportion; -- often followed by to.

Ancestor (n.) One from whom an estate has descended; -- the correlative of heir.

Anguiform (a.) Snake-shaped.

Arnotto (n.) A red or yellowish-red dyeing material, prepared from the pulp surrounding the seeds of a tree (Bixa orellana) belonging to the tropical regions of America. It is used for coloring cheese, butter, etc.

Anterior (a.) Before, or toward the front, in place; as, the anterior part of the mouth; -- opposed to posterior.

Anthology (n.) A collection of flowers of literature, that is, beautiful passages from authors; a collection of poems or epigrams; -- particularly applied to a collection of ancient Greek epigrams.

Apheliotropic (a.) Turning away from the sun; -- said of leaves, etc.

Apheliotropism (n.) The habit of bending from the sunlight; -- said of certain plants.

Apneumona (n. pl.) An order of holothurians in which the internal respiratory organs are wanting; -- called also Apoda or Apodes.

Apollyon (n.) The Destroyer; -- a name used (Rev. ix. 11) for the angel of the bottomless pit, answering to the Hebrew Abaddon.

Archaeolithic (a.) Of or pertaining to the earliest Stone age; -- applied to a prehistoric period preceding the Paleolithic age.

Argentous (a.) Of, pertaining to, or containing, silver; -- said of certain silver compounds in which silver has a higher proportion than in argentic compounds; as, argentous chloride.

Arrowwood (n.) A shrub (Viburnum dentatum) growing in damp woods and thickets; -- so called from the long, straight, slender shoots.

Arytenoid (a.) Ladle-shaped; -- applied to two small cartilages of the larynx, and also to the glands, muscles, etc., connected with them. The cartilages are attached to the cricoid cartilage and connected with the vocal cords.

Asbestos (n.) A variety of amphibole or of pyroxene, occurring in long and delicate fibers, or in fibrous masses or seams, usually of a white, gray, or green-gray color. The name is also given to a similar variety of serpentine.

Ascidioidea (n. pl.) A group of Tunicata, often shaped like a two-necked bottle. The group includes, social, and compound species. The gill is a netlike structure within the oral aperture. The integument is usually leathery in texture. See Illustration in Appendix.

Assertorial (a.) Asserting that a thing is; -- opposed to problematical and apodeictical.

Astarboard (adv.) Over to the starboard side; -- said of the tiller.

Asterion (n.) The point on the side of the skull where the lambdoid, parieto-mastoid and occipito-mastoid sutures.

Astronomy (n.) A treatise on, or text-book of, the science.

Attercop (n.) A peevish, ill-natured person.

Avocado (n.) The pulpy fruit of Persea gratissima, a tree of tropical America. It is about the size and shape of a large pear; -- called also avocado pear, alligator pear, midshipman's butter.

Bachelor (n.) A kind of bass, an edible fresh-water fish (Pomoxys annularis) of the southern United States.

Ballahou (n.) A fast-sailing schooner, used in the Bermudas and West Indies.

Baroscope (n.) Any instrument showing the changes in the weight of the atmosphere; also, less appropriately, any instrument that indicates -or foreshadows changes of the weather, as a deep vial of liquid holding in suspension some substance which rises and falls with atmospheric changes.

Barracouata (n.) A large edible fresh-water fish of Australia and New Zealand (Thyrsites atun).

Behavior (n.) Manner of behaving, whether good or bad; mode of conducting one's self; conduct; deportment; carriage; -- used also of inanimate objects; as, the behavior of a ship in a storm; the behavior of the magnetic needle.

Belladonna (n.) An herbaceous European plant (Atropa belladonna) with reddish bell-shaped flowers and shining black berries. The whole plant and its fruit are very poisonous, and the root and leaves are used as powerful medicinal agents. Its properties are largely due to the alkaloid atropine which it contains. Called also deadly nightshade.

Bellflower (n.) A plant of the genus Campanula; -- so named from its bell-shaped flowers.

Bergamot (n.) A tree of the Orange family (Citrus bergamia), having a roundish or pear-shaped fruit, from the rind of which an essential oil of delicious odor is extracted, much prized as a perfume. Also, the fruit.

Bergamot (n.) A coarse tapestry, manufactured from flock of cotton or hemp, mixed with ox's or goat's hair; -- said to have been invented at Bergamo, Italy. Encyc. Brit.

Berylloid (n.) A solid consisting of a double twelve-sided pyramid; -- so called because the planes of this form occur on crystals of beryl.

Bicarbonate (n.) A carbonate in which but half the hydrogen of the acid is replaced by a positive element or radical, thus making the proportion of the acid to the positive or basic portion twice what it is in the normal carbonates; an acid carbonate; -- sometimes called supercarbonate.

Bicornous (a.) Having two horns; two-horned; crescentlike.

Bicorporate (a.) Double-bodied, as a lion having one head and two bodies.

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

Bigaroon (n.) The large white-heart cherry.

Billyboy (n.) A flat-bottomed river barge or coasting vessel.

Bivector (n.) A term made up of the two parts / + /1 /-1, where / and /1 are vectors.

Blackcoat (n.) A clergyman; -- familiarly so called, as a soldier is sometimes called a redcoat or a bluecoat.

Blackcock (n.) The male of the European black grouse (Tetrao tetrix, Linn.); -- so called by sportsmen. The female is called gray hen. See Heath grouse.

Blackwood (n.) A name given to several dark-colored timbers. The East Indian black wood is from the tree Dalbergia latifolia.

Blackwork (n.) Work wrought by blacksmiths; -- so called in distinction from that wrought by whitesmiths.

Blindworm (n.) A small, burrowing, snakelike, limbless lizard (Anguis fragilis), with minute eyes, popularly believed to be blind; the slowworm; -- formerly a name for the adder.

Blockhouse (n.) An edifice or structure of heavy timbers or logs for military defense, having its sides loopholed for musketry, and often an upper story projecting over the lower, or so placed upon it as to have its sides make an angle wit the sides of the lower story, thus enabling the defenders to fire downward, and in all directions; -- formerly much used in America and Germany.

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.

Bloodwort (n.) A plant, Rumex sanguineus, or bloody-veined dock. The name is applied also to bloodroot (Sanguinaria Canadensis), and to an extensive order of plants (Haemodoraceae), the roots of many species of which contain a red coloring matter useful in dyeing.

Bocardo (n.) A prison; -- originally the name of the old north gate in Oxford, which was used as a prison.

Bookstore (n.) A store where books are kept for sale; -- called in England a bookseller's shop.

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

Bronchophony (n.) A modification of the voice sounds, by which they are intensified and heightened in pitch; -- observed in auscultation of the chest in certain cases of intro-thoracic disease.

Buffalo (n.) A very large and savage species of the same genus (B. Caffer) found in South Africa; -- called also Cape buffalo.

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

Bummalo (n.) A small marine Asiatic fish (Saurus ophidon) used in India as a relish; -- called also Bombay duck.

Bumptious (a.) Self-conceited; forward; pushing.

Cacajao (n.) A South American short-tailed monkey (Pithecia (/ Brachyurus) melanocephala).

Cacholong (n.) An opaque or milk-white chalcedony, a variety of quartz; also, a similar variety of opal.

Cacophonious (a.) Harsh-sounding.

Calambour (n.) A species of agalloch, or aloes wood, of a dusky or mottled color, of a light, friable texture, and less fragrant than calambac; -- used by cabinetmakers.

Carbinol (n.) Methyl alcohol, CH3OH; -- also, by extension, any one in the homologous series of paraffine alcohols of which methyl alcohol is the type.

Carcajou (n.) The wolverene; -- also applied, but erroneously, to the Canada lynx, and sometimes to the American badger. See Wolverene.

Carcinology (n.) The department of zoology which treats of the Crustacea (lobsters, crabs, etc.); -- called also malacostracology and crustaceology.

Cassino (n.) A game at cards, played by two or more persons, usually for twenty-one points.

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.

Catchwork (n.) A work or artificial water-course for throwing water on lands that lie on the slopes of hills; a catchdrain.

Cavetto (n.) A concave molding; -- used chiefly in classical architecture. See Illust. of Column.

Celluloid (n.) A substance composed essentially of gun cotton and camphor, and when pure resembling ivory in texture and color, but variously colored to imitate coral, tortoise shell, amber, malachite, etc. It is used in the manufacture of jewelry and many small articles, as combs, brushes, collars, and cuffs; -- originally called xylonite.

Cenation (n.) Meal-taking; dining or supping.

Cephalotomy (n.) Craniotomy; -- usually applied to bisection of the fetal head with a saw.

Cephalous (a.) Having a head; -- applied chiefly to the Cephalata, a division of mollusks.

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.

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.

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

Chelidonius (n.) A small stone taken from the gizzard of a young swallow. -- anciently worn as a medicinal charm.

Cherimoyer (n.) A small downy-leaved tree (Anona Cherimolia), with fragrant flowers. It is a native of Peru.

Chiastolite (n.) A variety of andalusite; -- called also macle. The tessellated appearance of a cross section is due to the symmetrical arrangement of impurities in the crystal.

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.

Churrworm (n.) An insect that turns about nimbly; the mole cricket; -- called also fan cricket.

Cinereous (a.) Like ashes; ash-colored; grayish.

Cirriform (a.) Formed like a cirrus or tendril; -- said of appendages of both animals and plants.

Cirrostomi (n. pl.) The lowest group of vertebrates; -- so called from the cirri around the mouth; the Leptocardia. See Amphioxus.

Clavicorn (a.) Having club-shaped antennae. See Antennae

Clavicornes (n. pl.) A group of beetles having club-shaped antennae.

Claviform (a.) Club-shaped; clavate.

Cleistogamous (a.) Having, beside the usual flowers, other minute, closed flowers, without petals or with minute petals; -- said of certain species of plants which possess flowers of two or more kinds, the closed ones being so constituted as to insure self-fertilization.

Coalgoose (n.) The cormorant; -- so called from its black color.

Cobaltous (a.) Pertaining to, derived from, or containing, cobalt; -- said esp. of cobalt compounds in which the metal has its lower valence.

Cockatoo (n.) A bird of the Parrot family, of the subfamily Cacatuinae, having a short, strong, and much curved beak, and the head ornamented with a crest, which can be raised or depressed at will. There are several genera and many species; as the broad-crested (Plictolophus, / Cacatua, cristatus), the sulphur-crested (P. galeritus), etc. The palm or great black cockatoo of Australia is Microglossus aterrimus.

Cockscomb (n.) A plant (Celosia cristata), of many varieties, cultivated for its broad, fantastic spikes of brilliant flowers; -- sometimes called garden cockscomb. Also the Pedicularis, or lousewort, the Rhinanthus Crista-galli, and the Onobrychis Crista-galli.

Coelodont (a.) Having hollow teeth; -- said of a group lizards.

Cohesion (n.) That from of attraction by which the particles of a body are united throughout the mass, whether like or unlike; -- distinguished from adhesion, which unites bodies by their adjacent surfaces.

Comboloio (n.) A Mohammedan rosary, consisting of ninety-nine beads.

Conveyor (n.) A contrivance for carrying objects from place to place; esp., one for conveying grain, coal, etc., -- as a spiral or screw turning in a pipe or trough, an endless belt with buckets, or a truck running along a rope.

Cootfoot (n.) The phalarope; -- so called because its toes are like the coot's.

Coralwort (n.) A cruciferous herb of certain species of Dentaria; -- called also toothwort, tooth violet, or pepper root.

Cordoform (a.) Heart-shaped.

Corniform (a.) Having the shape of a horn; horn-shaped.

Coryphodon (n.) A genus of extinct mammals from the eocene tertiary of Europe and America. Its species varied in size between the tapir and rhinoceros, and were allied to those animals, but had short, plantigrade, five-toed feet, like the elephant.

Costotome (n.) An instrument (chisel or shears) to cut the ribs and open the thoracic cavity, in post-mortem examinations and dissections.

Creationism (n.) The doctrine that a soul is specially created for each human being as soon as it is formed in the womb; -- opposed to traducianism.

Creditor (n.) One who gives credit in business matters; hence, one to whom money is due; -- correlative to debtor.

Crocidolite (n.) A mineral occuring in silky fibers of a lavender blue color. It is related to hornblende and is essentially a silicate of iron and soda; -- called also blue asbestus. A silicified form, in which the fibers penetrating quartz are changed to oxide of iron, is the yellow brown tiger-eye of the jewelers.

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

Crowflower (n.) A kind of campion; according to Gerarde, the Lychnis Flos-cuculi.

Cruciform (a.) Cross-shaped; (Bot.) having four parts arranged in the form of a cross.

Dactylology (n.) The art of communicating ideas by certain movements and positions of the fingers; -- a method of conversing practiced by the deaf and dumb.

Daedalous (a.) Having a variously cut or incised margin; -- said of leaves.

Debuscope (n.) A modification of the kaleidoscope; -- used to reflect images so as to form beautiful designs.

Decacerata (n. pl.) The division of Cephalopoda which includes the squids, cuttlefishes, and others having ten arms or tentacles; -- called also Decapoda. [Written also Decacera.] See Dibranchiata.

Deccapodous (a.) Belonging to the decapods; having ten feet; ten-footed.

Decomposed (a.) Separated or broken up; -- said of the crest of birds when the feathers are divergent.

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

Delirious (a.) Having a delirium; wandering in mind; light-headed; insane; raving; wild; as, a delirious patient; delirious fancies.

Demantoid (n.) A yellow-green, transparent variety of garnet found in the Urals. It is valued as a gem because of its brilliancy of luster, whence the name.

Dentiform (a.) Having the form of a tooth or of teeth; tooth-shaped.

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.

Derision (n.) An object of derision or scorn; a laughing-stock.

Desmodont (n.) A member of a group of South American blood-sucking bats, of the genera Desmodus and Diphylla. See Vampire.

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.

Diatomous (a.) Having a single, distinct, diagonal cleavage; -- said of crystals.

Dibasic (a.) Having two acid hydrogen atoms capable of replacement by basic atoms or radicals, in forming salts; bibasic; -- said of acids, as oxalic or sulphuric acids. Cf. Diacid, Bibasic.

Dicoccous (a.) Composed of two coherent, one-seeded carpels; as, a dicoccous capsule.

Dioecious (a.) Having the sexes in two separate individuals; -- applied to plants in which the female flowers occur on one individual and the male flowers on another of the same species, and to animals in which the ovum is produced by one individual and the sperm cell by another; -- opposed to monoecious.

Diphthong (n.) A coalition or union of two vowel sounds pronounced in one syllable; as, ou in out, oi in noise; -- called a proper diphthong.

Diphthong (n.) A vowel digraph; a union of two vowels in the same syllable, only one of them being sounded; as, ai in rain, eo in people; -- called an improper diphthong.

Diprotodon (n.) An extinct Quaternary marsupial from Australia, about as large as the hippopotamus; -- so named because of its two large front teeth. See Illustration in Appendix.

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

Dishonor (v. t.) To refuse or decDolichocephalous (a.) Having the cranium, or skull, long to its breadth; long-headed; -- opposed to brachycephalic.

Dolioform (a.) Barrel-shaped, or like a cask in form.

Dollar (n.) A gold coin of the United States containing 23.22 grains of gold and 2.58 grains of alloy, that is, having a total weight of 25.8 grains, nine-tenths fine. It is no longer coined.

Doryphora (n.) A genus of plant-eating beetles, including the potato beetle. See Potato beetle.

Drawloom (n.) A kind of loom used in weaving figured patterns; -- called also drawboy.

Dream (n.) A visionary scheme; a wild conceit; an idle fancy; a vagary; a revery; -- in this sense, applied to an imaginary or anticipated state of happiness; as, a dream of bliss; the dream of his youth.

Earthworm (n.) Any worm of the genus Lumbricus and allied genera, found in damp soil. One of the largest and most abundant species in Europe and America is L. terrestris; many others are known; -- called also angleworm and dewworm.

Ecchymose (v. t.) To discolor by the production of an ecchymosis, or effusion of blood, beneath the skin; -- chiefly used in the passive form; as, the parts were much ecchymosed.

Edgeshot (a.) Having an edge planed, -- said of a board.

Egregious (a.) Surpassing; extraordinary; distinguished (in a bad sense); -- formerly used with words importing a good quality, but now joined with words having a bad sense; as, an egregious rascal; an egregious ass; an egregious mistake.

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.

Election (a.) Divine choice; predestination of individuals as objects of mercy and salvation; -- one of the "five points" of Calvinism.

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.

Electrum (n.) German-silver plate. See German silver, under German.

Elevator (n.) A cage or platform and the hoisting machinery in a hotel, warehouse, mine, etc., for conveying persons, goods, etc., to or from different floors or levels; -- called in England a lift; the cage or platform itself.

Ellipsograph (n.) An instrument for describing ellipses; -- called also trammel.

Elohist (n.) The writer, or one of the writers, of the passages of the Old Testament, notably those of Elohim instead of Jehovah, as the name of the Supreme Being; -- distinguished from Jehovist.

Embargo (v. t.) To lay an embargo on and thus detain; to prohibit from leaving port; -- said of ships, also of commerce and goods.

Embiotocoid (n.) One of a family of fishes (Embiotocidae) abundant on the coast of California, remarkable for being viviparous; -- also called surf fishes and viviparous fishes. See Illust. in Append.

Emblazon (v. t.) To depict or represent; -- said of heraldic bearings. See Blazon.

Embonpoint (n.) Plumpness of person; -- said especially of persons somewhat corpulent.

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.

Enantiomorphous (a.) Similar, but not superposable, i. e., related to each other as a right-handed to a left-handed glove; -- said of certain hemihedral crystals.

Enantiopathy (n.) Allopathy; -- a term used by followers of Hahnemann, or homeopathists.

Encrinoidea (n. pl.) That order of the Crinoidea which includes most of the living and many fossil forms, having jointed arms around the margin of the oral disk; -- also called Brachiata and Articulata. See Illusts. under Comatula and Crinoidea.

Endochondral (a.) Growing or developing within cartilage; -- applied esp. to developing bone.

Endosporous (a.) Having the spores contained in a case; -- applied to fungi.

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

Entoglossal (a.) Within the tongue; -- applied to the glossohyal bone.

Epanthous (a.) Growing upon flowers; -- said of certain species of fungi.

Epigynous (a.) Adnate to the surface of the ovary, so as to be apparently inserted upon the top of it; -- said of stamens, petals, sepals, and also of the disk.

Erroneous (a.) Wandering; straying; deviating from the right course; -- hence, irregular; unnatural.

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.

Eudaemonics (n.) That part of moral philosophy which treats of happiness; the science of happiness; -- contrasted with aretaics.

Eudaemonism (n.) That system of ethics which defines and enforces moral obligation by its relation to happiness or personal well-being.

Eupittone (n.) A yellow, crystalExertion (n.) The act of exerting, or putting into motion or action; the active exercise of any power or faculty; an effort, esp. a laborious or perceptible effort; as, an exertion of strength or power; an exertion of the limbs or of the mind; it is an exertion for him to move, to-day.

Exogamous (a.) Relating to exogamy; marrying outside of the limits of one's own tribe; -- opposed to endogenous.

Exogenous (a.) Pertaining to, or having the character of, an exogen; -- the opposite of endogenous.

Exogenous (a.) Growing from previously ossified parts; -- opposed to autogenous.

Extemporaneous (a.) Composed, performed, or uttered on the spur of the moment, or without previous study; unpremeditated; off-hand; extempore; extemporary; as, an extemporaneous address or production.

Extemporize (v. t.) To do, make, or utter extempore or off-hand; to prepare in great haste, under urgent necessity, or with scanty or unsuitable materials; as, to extemporize a dinner, a costume, etc.

Extensor (n.) A muscle which serves to extend or straighten any part of the body, as an arm or a finger; -- opposed to flexor.

Exterior (a.) External; outward; pertaining to that which is external; -- opposed to interior; as, the exterior part of a sphere.

Fagotto (n.) The bassoon; -- so called from being divided into parts for ease of carriage, making, as it were, a small fagot.

Falchion (n.) A broad-bladed sword, slightly curved, shorter and lighter than the ordinary sword; -- used in the Middle Ages.

Fergusonite (n.) A mineral of a brownish black color, essentially a tantalo-niobate of yttrium, erbium, and cerium; -- so called after Robert Ferguson.

Fibrinoplastin (n.) An albuminous substance, existing in the blood, which in combination with fibrinogen forms fibrin; -- called also paraglobulin.

Fieldwork (n.) Any temporary fortification thrown up by an army in the field; -- commonly in the plural.

Firestone (n.) A stone which will bear the heat of a furnace without injury; -- especially applied to the sandstone at the top of the upper greensand in the south of England, used for lining kilns and furnaces.

Fishhook (n.) A hook with a pendant, to the end of which the fish-tackle is hooked.

Fission (n.) A method of asexual reproduction among the lowest (unicellular) organisms by means of a process of self-division, consisting of gradual division or cleavage of the into two parts, each of which then becomes a separate and independent organisms; as when a cell in an animal or plant, or its germ, undergoes a spontaneous division, and the parts again subdivide. See Segmentation, and Fixation (n.) The act of uniting chemically with a solid substance or in a solid form; reduction to a non-volatile condition; -- said of gaseous elements.

Fixation (n.) A state of resistance to evaporation or volatilization by heat; -- said of metals.

Flintlock (n.) A hand firearm fitted with a flintlock; esp., the old-fashioned musket of European and other armies.

Floramour (n.) The plant love-lies-bleeding.

Floriform (a.) Having the form of a flower; flower-shaped.

Flosh (n.) A hopper-shaped box or /nortar in which ore is placed for the action of the stamps.

Footstone (n.) The stone at the foot of a grave; -- opposed to headstone.

Forefoot (n.) One of the anterior feet of a quardruped or multiped; -- usually written fore foot.

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.

Fraction (v. t.) To separate by means of, or to subject to, fractional distillation or crystallization; to fractionate; -- frequently used with out; as, to fraction out a certain grade of oil from pretroleum.

Freestone (n.) A stone composed of sand or grit; -- so called because it is easily cut or wrought.

Freethinker (n.) One who speculates or forms opinions independently of the authority of others; esp., in the sphere or religion, one who forms opinions independently of the authority of revelation or of the church; an unbeliever; -- a term assumed by deists and skeptics in the eighteenth century.

Frigatoon (n.) A Venetian vessel, with a square stern, having only a mainmast, jigger mast, and bowsprit; also a sloop of war ship-rigged.

Fugacious (a.) Fleeting; lasting but a short time; -- applied particularly to organs or parts which are short-lived as compared with the life of the individual.

Fungivorous (a.) Eating fungi; -- said of certain insects and snails.

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.

Galactophorous (a.) Milk-carrying; lactiferous; -- applied to the ducts of mammary glands.

Galactopoietic (a.) Increasing the flow of milk; milk-producing. -- n. A galactopoietic substance.

Galvanoplastic (a.) Of or pertaining to the art or process of electrotyping; employing, or produced by, the process of electolytic deposition; as, a galvano-plastic copy of a medal or the like.

Galvanopuncture (n.) Same as Electro-puncture.

Ganglion (n.) A globular, hard, indolent tumor, situated somewhere on a tendon, and commonly formed by the effusion of a viscid fluid into it; -- called also weeping sinew.

Garrulous (a.) Having a loud, harsh note; noisy; -- said of birds; as, the garrulous roller.

Gladstone (n.) A four-wheeled pleasure carriage with two inside seats, calash top, and seats for driver and footman.

Glycocoll (n.) A crystalline, nitrogenous substance, with a sweet taste, formed from hippuric acid by boiling with hydrochloric acid, and present in bile united with cholic acid. It is also formed from gelatin by decomposition with acids. Chemically, it is amido-acetic acid. Called also glycin, and glycocin.

Gneissoid (a.) Resembling gneiss; having some of the characteristics of gneiss; -- applied to rocks of an intermediate character between granite and gneiss, or mica slate and gneiss.

Goldylocks (n.) A plant of several species of the genus Chrysocoma; -- so called from the tufts of yellow flowers which terminate the stems; also, the Ranunculus auricomus, a kind of buttercup.

Gonochorism (n.) Separation of the sexes in different individuals; -- opposed to hermaphroditism.

Gowdnook (n.) The saury pike; -- called also gofnick.

Gradatory (a.) Suitable for walking; -- said of the limbs of an animal when adapted for walking on land.

Grandiose (a.) Impressive or elevating in effect; imposing; splendid; striking; -- in a good sense.

Grandiose (a.) Characterized by affectation of grandeur or splendor; flaunting; turgid; bombastic; -- in a bad sense; as, a grandiose style.

Grasshopper (n.) Any jumping, orthopterous insect, of the families Acrididae and Locustidae. The species and genera are very numerous. The former family includes the Western grasshopper or locust (Caloptenus spretus), noted for the great extent of its ravages in the region beyond the Mississippi. In the Eastern United States the red-legged (Caloptenus femurrubrum and C. atlanis) are closely related species, but their ravages are less important. They are closely related to the migratory locusts> Grasshopper (n.) In ordinary square or upright pianos of London make, the escapement lever or jack, so made that it can be taken out and replaced with the key; -- called also the hopper.

Guardhouse (n.) A building which is occupied by the guard, and in which soldiers are confined for misconduct; hence, a lock-up.

Guttiform (a.) Drop-shaped, as a spot of color.

Gymnocopa (n. pl.) A group of transparent, free-swimming Annelida, having setae only in the cephalic appendages.

Hackamore (n.) A halter consisting of a long leather or rope strap and headstall, -- used for leading or tieing a pack animal.

Haemapodous (a.) Having the limbs on, or directed toward, the ventral or hemal side, as in vertebrates; -- opposed to neuropodous.

Haematoblast (n.) One of the very minute, disk-shaped bodies found in blood with the ordinary red corpuscles and white corpuscles; a third kind of blood corpuscle, supposed by some to be an early stage in the development of the red corpuscles; -- called also blood plaque, and blood plate.

Haematocrya (n. pl.) The cold-blooded vertebrates. Same as Hematocrya.

Haematocryal (a.) Cold-blooded.

Haematoplastic (a.) Blood formative; -- applied to a substance in early fetal life, which breaks up gradually into blood vessels.

Haematothermal (a.) Warm-blooded; homoiothermal.

Halichondriae (n. pl.) An order of sponges, having simple siliceous spicules and keratose fibers; -- called also Keratosilicoidea.

Haliotoid (a.) Like or pertaining to the genus Haliotis; ear-shaped.

Hamilton period () A subdivision of the Devonian system of America; -- so named from Hamilton, Madison Co., New York. It includes the Marcellus, Hamilton, and Genesee epochs or groups. See the Chart of Geology.

Harefoot (n.) A long, narrow foot, carried (that is, produced or extending) forward; -- said of dogs.

Harmotome (n.) A hydrous silicate of alumina and baryta, occurring usually in white cruciform crystals; cross-stone.

Headstock (n.) The part of a lathe that holds the revolving spindle and its attachments; -- also called poppet head, the opposite corresponding part being called a tailstock.

Hedgehog (n.) A species of Medicago (M. intertexta), the pods of which are armed with short spines; -- popularly so called.

Heliopora (n.) An East Indian stony coral now known to belong to the Alcyonaria; -- called also blue coral.

Heliozoa (n. pl.) An order of fresh-water rhizopods having a more or less globular form, with slender radiating pseudopodia; the sun animalcule.

Helleborin (n.) A poisonous glucoside found in several species of hellebore, and extracted as a white crystalHemitropous (a.) Having the raphe terminating about half way between the chalaza and the orifice; amphitropous; -- said of an ovule.

Herdbook (n.) A book containing the list and pedigrees of one or more herds of choice breeds of cattle; -- also called herd record, or herd register.

Herisson (n.) A beam or bar armed with iron spikes, and turning on a pivot; -- used to block up a passage.

Hexeikosane (n.) A hydrocarbon, C26H54, resembling paraffine; -- so called because each molecule has twenty-six atoms of carbon.

Histology (n.) That branch of biological science, which treats of the minute (microscopic) structure of animal and vegetable tissues; -- called also histiology.

Histrionical (a.) Of or relating to the stage or a stageplayer; befitting a theatre; theatrical; -- sometimes in a bad sense.

Hobbyhorse (n.) A subject or plan upon which one is constantly setting off; a favorite and ever-recurring theme of discourse, thought, or effort; that which occupies one's attention unduly, or to the weariness of others; a ruling passion.

Hollyhock (n.) A species of Althaea (A. rosea), bearing flowers of various colors; -- called also rose mallow.

Holophotal (a.) Causing no loss of light; -- applied to reflectors which throw back the rays of light without perceptible loss.

Holophote (n.) A lamp with lenses or reflectors to collect the rays of light and throw them in a given direction; -- used in lighthouses.

Holostomatous (a.) Having an entire aperture; -- said of many univalve shells.

Homodromous (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.

Honeycomb (n.) Any substance, as a easting of iron, a piece of worm-eaten wood, or of triple, etc., perforated with cells like a honeycomb.

Hornbook (n.) The first book for children, or that from which in former times they learned their letters and rudiments; -- so called because a sheet of horn covered the small, thin board of oak, or the slip of paper, on which the alphabet, digits, and often the Lord's Prayer, were written or printed; a primer.

Hornito (n.) A low, oven-shaped mound, common in volcanic regions, and emitting smoke and vapors from its sides and summit.

Hornstone (n.) A siliceous stone, a variety of quartz, closely resembling flint, but more brittle; -- called also chert.

Hotchpotch (n.) A blending of property for equality of division, as when lands given in frank-marriage to one daughter were, after the death of the ancestor, blended with the lands descending to her and to her sisters from the same ancestor, and then divided in equal portions among all the daughters. In modern usage, a mixing together, or throwing into a common mass or stock, of the estate left by a person deceased and the amounts advanced to any particular child or children, for the purpose o> Hydantoin (n.) A derivative of urea, C3H4N2O2, obtained from allantion, as a white, crystalHypernoea (n.) Abnormal breathing, due to slightly deficient arterialization of the blood; -- in distinction from eupnoea. See Eupnoea, and Dispnoea.

Hypidiomorphic (a.) Partly idiomorphic; -- said of rock a portion only of whose constituents have a distinct crystalHypnagogic (a.) Leading to sleep; -- applied to the illusions of one who is half asleep.

Hypoglossal (a.) Under the tongue; -- applied esp., in the higher vertebrates, to the twelfth or last pair of cranial nerves, which are distributed to the base of the tongue.

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

Ichthyoidal (a.) Somewhat like a fish; having some of the characteristics of fishes; -- said of some amphibians.

Ichthyolatry (n.) Worship of fishes, or of fish-shaped idols.

Ichthyomorphous (a.) Fish-shaped; as, the ichthyomorphic idols of ancient Assyria.

Ichthyosauria (n. pl.) An extinct order of marine reptiles, including Ichthyosaurus and allied forms; -- called also Ichthyopterygia. They have not been found later than the Cretaceous period.

Ichthyosaurus (n.) An extinct genus of marine reptiles; -- so named from their short, biconcave vertebrae, resembling those of fishes. Several species, varying in length from ten to thirty feet, are known from the Liassic, Oolitic, and Cretaceous formations.

Ichthyosis (n.) A disease in which the skin is thick, rough, and scaly; -- called also fishskin.

Iliopsoas (n.) The great flexor muscle of the hip joint, divisible into two parts, the iliac and great psoas, -- often regarded as distinct muscles.

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

Incorporate (v. t.) To unite with, or introduce into, a mass already formed; as, to incorporate copper with silver; -- used with with and into.

Incorporate (v. i.) To unite in one body so as to make a part of it; to be mixed or blended; -- usually followed by with.

Incorporeal (a.) Existing only in contemplation of law; not capable of actual visible seizin or possession; not being an object of sense; intangible; -- opposed to corporeal.

Inferior (a.) Situated below some other organ; -- said of a calyx when free from the ovary, and therefore below it, or of an ovary with an adherent and therefore inferior calyx.

Infusionism (n.) The doctrine that the soul is preexistent to the body, and is infused into it at conception or birth; -- opposed to tradicianism and creationism.

Ingenuous (a.) Noble; generous; magnanimous; honorable; upright; high-minded; as, an ingenuous ardor or zeal.

Injector (n.) A contrivance for forcing feed water into a steam boiler by the direct action of the steam upon the water. The water is driven into the boiler by the impulse of a jet of the steam which becomes condensed as soon as it strikes the stream of cold water it impels; -- also called Giffard's injector, from the inventor.

Insidious (a.) Lying in wait; watching an opportunity to insnare or entrap; deceitful; sly; treacherous; -- said of persons; as, the insidious foe.

Intercolline (a.) Situated between hills; -- applied especially to valleys lying between volcanic cones.

Interior (a.) Being within any limits, inclosure, or substance; inside; internal; inner; -- opposed to exterior, or superficial; as, the interior apartments of a house; the interior surface of a hollow ball.

Irrational (a.) Not capable of being exactly expressed by an integral number, or by a vulgar fraction; surd; -- said especially of roots. See Surd.

Isologous (a.) Having similar proportions, similar relations, or similar differences of composition; -- said specifically of groups or series which differ by a constant difference; as, ethane, ethylene, and acetylene, or their analogous compounds, form an isologous series.

Isopogonous (a.) Having the two webs equal in breath; -- said of feathers.

Jointworm (n.) The larva of a small, hymenopterous fly (Eurytoma hordei), which is found in gall-like swellings on the stalks of wheat, usually at or just above the first joint. In some parts of America it does great damage to the crop.

Kinkajou (n.) A nocturnal carnivorous mammal (Cercoleptes caudivolvulus) of South America, about as large as a full-grown cat. It has a prehensile tail and lives in trees. It is the only representative of a distinct family (Cercoleptidae) allied to the raccoons. Called also potto, and honey bear.

Lacrimoso (a.) Plaintive; -- a term applied to a mournful or pathetic movement or style.

Laryngotracheotomy (n.) The operation of cutting into the larynx and the upper part of the trachea, -- a frequent operation for obstruction to breathing.

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

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.

Lecythis (n.) A genus of gigantic trees, chiefly Brazilian, of the order Myrtaceae, having woody capsules opening by an apical lid. Lecythis Zabucajo yields the delicious sapucaia nuts. L. Ollaria produces the monkey-pots, its capsules. Its bark separates into thin sheets, like paper, used by the natives for cigarette wrappers.

Leptiform (a.) Having a form somewhat like leptus; -- said of active insect larvae having three pairs of legs. See Larva.

Leucitoid (n.) The trapezohedron or tetragonal trisoctahedron; -- so called as being the form of the mineral leucite.

Leucoethiopic (a.) White and black; -- said of a white animal of a black species, or the albino of the negro race.

Lewisson (n.) An iron dovetailed tenon, made in sections, which can be fitted into a dovetail mortise; -- used in hoisting large stones, etc.

Lindiform (a.) Resembling the genus Lindia; -- said of certain apodous insect larvae.

Liripoop (n.) A pendent part of the old clerical tippet; afterwards, a tippet; a scarf; -- worn also by doctors, learned men, etc.

Liverwort (n.) A ranunculaceous plant (Anemone Hepatica) with pretty white or bluish flowers and a three-lobed leaf; -- called also squirrel cups.

Longicorn (a.) Long-horned; pertaining to the Longicornia.

Longiloquence (n.) Long-windedness.

Macrocosm (n.) The great world; that part of the universe which is exterior to man; -- contrasted with microcosm, or man. See Microcosm.

Macropod (n.) Any one of a group of maioid crabs remarkable for the length of their legs; -- called also spider crab.

Macrotous (a.) Large-eared.

Macrozoospore (n.) A large motile spore having four vibratile cilia; -- found in certain green algae.

Magnetomotor (n.) A voltaic series of two or more large plates, producing a great quantity of electricity of low tension, and hence adapted to the exhibition of electro-magnetic phenomena.

Mahoohoo (n.) The African white two-horned rhinoceros (Atelodus simus).

Manichordon () The clavichord or clarichord; -- called also dumb spinet.

Marcato (a.) In a marked emphatic manner; -- used adverbially as a direction.

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

Maucaco (n.) A lemur; -- applied to several species, as the White-fronted, the ruffed, and the ring-tailed lemurs.

Maxilloturbinal (n.) The maxillo-turbinal, or inferior turbinate, bone.

Melastoma (n.) A genus of evergreen tropical shrubs; -- so called from the black berries of some species, which stain the mouth.

Melodeon (n.) A kind of small reed organ; -- a portable form of the seraphine.

Meniscoid (a.) Concavo-convex, like a meniscus.

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.

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

Metalloid (n.) Formerly, the metallic base of a fixed alkali, or alkaMicrococcus (n.) A genus of Spherobacteria, in the form of very small globular or oval cells, forming, by transverse division, filaments, or chains of cells, or in some cases single organisms shaped like dumb-bells (Diplococcus), all without the power of motion. See Illust. of Ascoccus.

Microorganism (n.) Any microscopic form of life; -- particularly applied to bacteria and similar organisms, esp. such are supposed to cause infectious diseases.

Microvolt (n.) A measure of electro-motive force; the millionth part of one volt.

Miterwort (n.) Any plant of the genus Mitella, -- slender, perennial herbs with a pod slightly resembling a bishop's miter; bishop's cap.

Mockado (n.) A stuff made in imitation of velvet; -- probably the same as mock velvet.

Moesogothic (n.) The language of the Moesogoths; -- also called Gothic.

Monophonic (a.) Single-voiced; having but one part; as, a monophonic composition; -- opposed to polyphonic.

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.

Moonflower (n.) The oxeye daisy; -- called also moon daisy.

Moonflower (n.) A kind of morning glory (Ipomoea Bona-nox) with large white flowers opening at night.

Morello (n.) A kind of nearly black cherry with dark red flesh and juice, -- used chiefly for preserving.

Morocco (n.) A fine kind of leather, prepared commonly from goatskin (though an inferior kind is made of sheepskin), and tanned with sumac and dyed of various colors; -- said to have been first made by the Moors.

Mosstrooper (n.) One of a class of marauders or bandits that formerly infested the border country between England and Scotland; -- so called in allusion to the mossy or boggy character of much of the border country.

Mulatto (n.) The offspring of a negress by a white man, or of a white woman by a negro, -- usually of a brownish yellow complexion.

Multipolar (a.) Having many poles; -- applied especially to those ganglionic nerve cells which have several radiating processes.

Mummiform (a.) Having some resemblance to a mummy; -- in zoology, said of the pupae of certain insects.

Musculospiral (a.) Of or pertaining to the muscles, and taking a spiral course; -- applied esp. to a large nerve of the arm.

Mushroom (n.) An edible fungus (Agaricus campestris), having a white stalk which bears a convex or oven flattish expanded portion called the pileus. This is whitish and silky or somewhat scaly above, and bears on the under side radiating gills which are at first flesh-colored, but gradually become brown. The plant grows in rich pastures and is proverbial for rapidity of growth and shortness of duration. It has a pleasant smell, and is largely used as food. It is also cultivated from spawn.

Mushroom (a.) Resembling mushrooms in rapidity of growth and shortness of duration; short-lived; ephemerial; as, mushroom cities.

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

Myrmidon (n.) A soldier or a subordinate civil officer who executes cruel orders of a superior without protest or pity; -- sometimes applied to bailiffs, constables, etc.

Myzostomata (n. pl.) An order of curious parasitic worms found on crinoids. The body is short and disklike, with four pairs of suckers and five pairs of hook-bearing parapodia on the under side.

Naphthoic (a.) Pertaining to, derived from, or related to, naphthalene; -- used specifically to designate any one of a series of carboxyl derivatives, called naphthoic acids.

Navelwort (n.) A European perennial succulent herb (Cotyledon umbilicus), having round, peltate leaves with a central depression; -- also called pennywort, and kidneywort.

Negation (adv.) The act of denying; assertion of the nonreality or untruthfulness of anything; declaration that something is not, or has not been, or will not be; denial; -- the opposite of affirmation.

Neuropodous (a.) Having the limbs on, or directed toward, the neural side, as in most invertebrates; -- opposed to haemapodous.

Nitroform (n.) A nitro derivative of methane, analogous to chloroform, obtained as a colorless oily or crystalNolition (n.) Adverse action of will; unwillingness; -- opposed to volition.

Notorious (a.) Generally known and talked of by the public; universally believed to be true; manifest to the world; evident; -- usually in an unfavorable sense; as, a notorious thief; a notorious crime or vice.

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

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

Anorthoclase (n.) A feldspar closely related to orthoclase, but triclinic. It is chiefly a silicate of sodium, potassium, and aluminium. Sp. gr., 2.57 -- 2.60.

Anorthosite (n.) A granular igneous rock composed almost exclusively of a soda-lime feldspar, usually labradorite.

Ante mortem () Before death; -- generally used adjectivelly; as, an ante-mortem statement; ante-mortem examination.

Ante mortem () Before death; -- generally used adjectivelly; as, an ante-mortem statement; ante-mortem examination.

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.

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

Billabong (n.) In Australia, a blind channel leading out from a river; -- sometimes called an anabranch. This is the sense of the word as used in the Public Works Department; but the term has also been locally applied to mere back-waters forming stagnant pools and to certain water channels arising from a source.

Billycock hat () A round, low-crowned felt hat; a wideawake.

Coneflower (n.) Any plant of the genus Rudbeckia; -- so called from the cone-shaped disk of the flower head. Also, any plant of the related genera Ratibida and Brauneria, the latter usually known as purple coneflower.

Diabolo (n.) An old game or sport (revived under this name) consisting in whirling on a string, fastened to two sticks, a small somewhat spool-shaped object (called the diabolo) so as to balance it on a string, toss it in the air and catch it, etc.

Dreadnought (n.) A British battleship, completed in 1906 -- 1907, having an armament consisting of ten 12-inch guns, and of twenty-four 12-pound quick-fire guns for protection against torpedo boats. This was the first battleship of the type characterized by a main armament of big guns all of the same caliber. She has a displacement of 17,900 tons at load draft, and a speed of 21 knots per hour.

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 > Elevator (n.) A movable plane or group of planes used to control the altitude or fore-and-aft poise or inclination of an airship or flying machine.

Farandole (n.) A rapid dance in six-eight time in which a large number join hands and dance in various figures, sometimes moving from room to room. It originated in Provence.

Gainsborough hat () A woman's broad-brimmed hat of a form thought to resemble those shown in portraits by Thomas Gainsborough, the English artist (1727-88).

Guaiacol (n.) A colorless liquid, C7H8O2, with a peculiar odor. It is the methyl ether of pyrocatechin, and is obtained by distilling guaiacum from wood-tar creosote, and in other ways. It has been used in treating pulmonary tuberculosis.

Megascopical (a.) Enlarged or magnified; -- said of images or of photographic pictures, etc.

Megascopical (a.) Large enough to be seen; -- said of the larger structural features and components of rocks which do not require the use of the microscope to be perceived. Opposed to microscopic.

Memento mori () Lit., remember to die, i.e., that you must die; a warning to be prepared for death; an object, as a death's-head or a personal ornament, usually emblematic, used as a reminder of death.

Mutation (n.) As now employed (first by de Vries), a sudden variation (the offspring differing from its parents in some well-marked character or characters) as distinguished from a gradual variations in which the new characters become fully developed only in the course of many generations. The occurrence of mutations, and the hereditary transmission, under some conditions, of the characters so appearing, are well-established facts; whether the process has played an important part in the evolut> Mutoscope (n.) A simple form of moving-picture machine in which the series of views, exhibiting the successive phases of a scene, are printed on paper and mounted around the periphery of a wheel. The rotation of the wheel brings them rapidly into sight, one after another, and the blended effect gives a semblance of motion.

Nonunion (a.) Not recognizing or favoring trades unions or trades-unionists; as, a nonunion contractor.

Oscillograph (n.) An apparatus for recording or indicating alternating-current wave forms or other electrical oscillations, usually consisting of a galvanometer with strong field, in which the mass of the moving part is very small and frequency of vibration very high.

Overshot (a.) Having the upper teeth projecting beyond the lower; -- said of the jaws of some dogs.

Pergolo (n.) A continuous colonnade or arcade; -- applied to the decorative groups of windows, as in Venetian palazzi.

Pressboard (n.) A kind of highly sized rag paper or board, sometimes containing a small admixture of wood pulp; -- so called because used originally, as now, in presses for pressing and finishing knit underwear.

Presswork (n.) Work consisting of a series of cross-grained veneers united by glue, heat, and pressure.

Quintroon (n.) The off-spring of an octoroon and a white person.

Raceabout (n.) A small sloop-rigged racing yacht carrying about six hundred square feet of sail, distinguished from a knockabout by having a short bowsprit.

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).

Roquefort (n.) A highly flavored blue-molded cheese, made at Roquefort, department of Aveyron, France. It is made from milk of ewes, sometimes with cow's milk added, and is cured in caves. Improperly, a cheese made in imitation of it.

Sporozoite (n.) In certain Sporozoa, a small active, usually elongate, sickle-shaped or somewhat amoeboid spore, esp. one of those produced by division of the passive spores into which the zygote divides. The sporozoites reproduce asexually.

Stillson wrench () A pipe wrench having an adjustable L-shaped jaw piece sliding in a sleeve that is pivoted to, and loosely embraces, the handle. Pressure on the handle increases the grip.

Stokehold (n.) The space, or any of the spaces, in front of the boilers of a ship, from which the furnaces are fed; the stokehole of a ship; also, a room containing a ship's boilers; as, forced draft with closed stokehold; -- called also, in American ships, fireroom.

Stovain () Alt. of -ine

Tedesco (a.) German; -- used chiefly of art, literature, etc.

Tennysonian (a.) Of or pertaining to Alfred (Lord) Tennyson, the English poet (1809-92); resembling, or having some of the characteristics of, his poetry, as simplicity, pictorial quality, sensuousness, etc.

Torpedo boom () A spar formerly carried by men-of-war, having a torpedo on its end.

Torpedo shell () A shell longer than a deck-piercing shell, with thinner walls and a larger cavity for the bursting charge, which consists of about 130 pounds of high explosive. It has no soft cap, and is intended to effect its damage by the powerful explosion which follows on slight resistance. It is used chiefly in 12-inch mortars.

Traction wheel () A smooth-rimmed friction wheel for giving motion to an endless link belt or the like.

Unemployment (n.) Quality or state of being not employed; -- used esp. in economics, of the condition of various social classes when temporarily thrown out of employment, as those engaged for short periods, those whose trade is decaying, and those least competent.

Valorization (n.) Act or process of attempting to give an arbitrary market value or price to a commodity by governmental interference, as by maintaining a purchasing fund, making loans to producers to enable them t Vibrator (n.) An ink-distributing roller in a printing machine, having an additional vibratory motion.

Wallflower (n.) In Australia, the desert poison bush (Gastrolobium grandiflorum); -- called also native wallflower.

Obdiplostemonous (a.) Having twice as many stamens as petals, those of the outer set being opposite the petals; -- said of flowers.

Obnoxious (a.) Subject; liable; exposed; answerable; amenable; -- with to.

Occasion (n.) An occurrence or condition of affairs which brings with it some unlooked-for event; that which incidentally brings to pass an event, without being its efficient cause or sufficient reason; accidental or incidental cause.

Occasionalism (n.) The system of occasional causes; -- a name given to certain theories of the Cartesian school of philosophers, as to the intervention of the First Cause, by which they account for the apparent reciprocal action of the soul and the body.

Oculomotor (a.) Of or pertaining to the movement of the eye; -- applied especially to the common motor nerves (or third pair of cranial nerves) which supply many of the muscles of the orbit.

Olfactory (n.) An olfactory organ; also, the sense of smell; -- usually in the plural.

Omphalode (n.) The central part of the hilum of a seed, through which the nutrient vessels pass into the rhaphe or the chalaza; -- called also omphalodium.

Omphalotomy (n.) The operation of dividing the navel-string.

Operator (n.) The symbol that expresses the operation to be performed; -- called also facient.

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.

Opisthocoelous (a.) Concave behind; -- applied especially to vertebrae in which the anterior end of the centrum is convex and the posterior concave.

Opisthopulmonate (a.) Having the pulmonary sac situated posteriorly; -- said of certain air-breathing Mollusca.

Ornithosauria (n. pl.) An order of extinct flying reptiles; -- called also Pterosauria.

Orthodox (a.) Sound in opinion or doctrine, especially in religious doctrine; hence, holding the Christian faith; believing the doctrines taught in the Scriptures; -- opposed to heretical and heterodox; as, an orthodox Christian.

Orthodoxy (n.) Soundness of faith; a belief in the doctrines taught in the Scriptures, or in some established standard of faith; -- opposed to heterodoxy or to heresy.

Orthodoxy (n.) Consonance to genuine Scriptural doctrines; -- said of moral doctrines and beliefs; as, the orthodoxy of a creed.

Orthogonal (a.) Right-angled; rectangular; as, an orthogonal intersection of one curve with another.

Orthotone (a.) Retaining the accent; not enclitic; -- said of certain indefinite pronouns and adverbs when used interrogatively, which, when not so used, are ordinarilly enclitic.

Osteocolla (n.) A cellular calc tufa, which in some places forms incrustations on the stems of plants, -- formerly supposed to have the quality of uniting fractured bones.

Osteotomy (n.) The operation of dividing a bone or of cutting a piece out of it, -- done to remedy deformity, etc.

Ostracism (n.) Banishment by popular vote, -- a means adopted at Athens to rid the city of a person whose talent and influence gave umbrage.

Overshoe (n.) A shoe that is worn over another for protection from wet or for extra warmth; esp., an India-rubber shoe; a galoche.

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.

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.

Oxidator (n.) A contrivance for causing a current of air to impinge on the flame of the Argand lamp; -- called also oxygenator.

Pahoehoe (n.) A name given in the Sandwich Islands to lava having a relatively smooth surface, in distinction from the rough-surfaced lava, called a-a.

Palempore (n.) A superior kind of dimity made in India, -- used for bed coverings.

Paletot (n.) A lady's outer garment, -- of varying fashion.

Palpicorn (n.) One of a group of aquatic beetles (Palpicornia) having short club-shaped antennae, and long maxillary palpi.

Palsywort (n.) The cowslip (Primula veris); -- so called from its supposed remedial powers.

Panidiomorphic (a.) Having a completely idiomorphic structure; -- said of certain rocks.

Parachordal (a.) Situated on either side of the notochord; -- applied especially to the cartilaginous rudiments of the skull on each side of the anterior part of the notochord.

Parsimony (n.) Closeness or sparingness in the expenditure of money; -- generally in a bad sense; excessive frugality; niggardliness.

Particolored (a.) Same as Party-colored.

Patchwork (n.) Work composed of pieces sewed together, esp. pieces of various colors and figures; hence, anything put together of incongruous or ill-adapted parts; something irregularly clumsily composed; a thing putched up.

Pellitory (n.) The common name of the several species of the genus Parietaria, low, harmless weeds of the Nettle family; -- also called wall pellitory, and lichwort.

Pellitory (n.) The feverfew (Chrysanthemum Parthenium); -- so called because it resembles the above.

Pentecost (n.) A solemn festival of the Jews; -- so called because celebrated on the fiftieth day (seven weeks) after the second day of the Passover (which fell on the sixteenth of the Jewish month Nisan); -- hence called, also, the Feast of Weeks. At this festival an offering of the first fruits of the harvest was made. By the Jews it was generally regarded as commemorative of the gift of the law on the fiftieth day after the departure from Egypt.

Pentecost (n.) A festival of the Roman Catholic and other churches in commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles; which occurred on the day of Pentecost; -- called also Whitsunday.

Pentecosty (n.) A troop of fifty soldiers in the Spartan army; -- called also pentecostys.

Pentroof (n.) See Lean-to.

Perchloric (a.) Pertaining to, or designating, the highest oxygen acid (HClO4), of chlorine; -- called also hyperchloric.

Perdifoil (n.) A deciduous plant; -- opposed to evergreen.

Perissodactyla (n. pl.) A division of ungulate mammals, including those that have an odd number of toes, as the horse, tapir, and rhinoceros; -- opposed to Artiodactyla.

Pestalozzian (a.) Belonging to, or characteristic of, a system of elementary education which combined manual training with other instruction, advocated and practiced by Jean Henri Pestalozzi (1746-1827), a Swiss teacher.

Peterwort (n.) See Saint Peter's-wort, under Saint.

Petition (n.) A formal written request addressed to an official person, or to an organized body, having power to grant it; specifically (Law), a supplication to government, in either of its branches, for the granting of a particular grace or right; -- in distinction from a memorial, which calls certain facts to mind; also, the written document.

Petticoat (n.) A loose under-garment worn by women, and covering the body below the waist.

Pettitoes (n. pl.) The toes or feet of a pig, -- often used as food; sometimes, in contempt, the human feet.

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

Phanerocrystalline (a.) Distinctly crystalline; -- used of rocks. Opposed to cryptocrystalline.

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

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

Phosphorus (n.) A poisonous nonmetallic element of the nitrogen group, obtained as a white, or yellowish, translucent waxy substance, having a characteristic disagreeable smell. It is very active chemically, must be preserved under water, and unites with oxygen even at ordinary temperatures, giving a faint glow, -- whence its name. It always occurs compined, usually in phosphates, as in the mineral apatite, in bones, etc. It is used in the composition on the tips of friction matches, and for m> Pianoforte (a.) A well-known musical instrument somewhat resembling the harpsichord, and consisting of a series of wires of graduated length, thickness, and tension, struck by hammers moved by keys.

Pimento (n.) Allspice; -- applied both to the tree and its fruit. See Allspice.

Planifolious (a.) Flat-leaved.

Platinocyanic (a.) Pertaining to, derived from, or designating, an acid compound of platinous cyanide and hydrocyanic acid. It is obtained as a cinnaber-red crystalPlatinoid (n.) An alloy of German silver containing tungsten; -- used for forming electrical resistance coils and standards.

Platinous (a.) Of, pertaining to, or containing, platinum; -- used specifically to designate those compounds in which the element has a lower valence, as contrasted with the platinic compounds; as, platinous chloride (PtCl2).

Platycoelian (a.) Flat at the anterior and concave at the posterior end; -- said of the centra of the vertebrae of some extinct dinouaurs.

Pockwood (n.) Lignum-vitae.

Polliwog (n.) A tadpole; -- called also purwiggy and porwigle.

Poltroon (n.) An arrant coward; a dastard; a craven; a mean-spirited wretch.

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.

Polyphonic (a.) Consisting of several tone series, or melodic parts, progressing simultaneously according to the laws of counterpoint; contrapuntal; as, a polyphonic composition; -- opposed to homophonic, or monodic.

Polyphony (n.) Composition in mutually related, equally important parts which share the melody among them; contrapuntal composition; -- opposed to homophony, in which the melody is given to one part only, the others filling out the harmony. See Counterpoint.

Polyptoton (n.) A figure by which a word is repeated in different forms, cases, numbers, genders, etc., as in Tennyson's line, -- "My own heart's heart, and ownest own, farewell."

Polystome (n.) An animal having many mouths; -- applied to Protozoa.

Pompadour (n.) A crimson or pink color; also, a style of dress cut low and square in the neck; also, a mode of dressing the hair by drawing it straight back from the forehead over a roll; -- so called after the Marchioness de Pompadour of France. Also much used adjectively.

Pompano (n.) Any one of several species of marine fishes of the genus Trachynotus, of which four species are found on the Atlantic coast of the United States; -- called also palometa.

Porkwood (n.) The coarse-grained brownish yellow wood of a small tree (Pisonia obtusata) of Florida and the West Indies. Also called pigeon wood, beefwood, and corkwood.

Position (n.) A method of solving a problem by one or two suppositions; -- called also the rule of trial and error.

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

Postfrontal (a.) Situated behind the frontal bone or the frontal region of the skull; -- applied especially to a bone back of and below the frontal in many animals.

Postfrontal (a.) Situated behind the frontal bone or the frontal region of the skull; -- applied especially to a bone back of and below the frontal in many animals.

Prasinous (a.) Grass-green; clear, lively green, without any mixture.

Pricklouse (n.) A tailor; -- so called in contempt.

Pricksong (v. t.) Music written, or noted, with dots or points; -- so called from the points or dots with which it is noted down.

Prickwood (n.) A shrub (Euonymus Europaeus); -- so named from the use of its wood for goads, skewers, and shoe pegs. Called also spindle tree.

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

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

Protopope (n.) One of the clergy of first rank in the lower order of secular clergy; an archpriest; -- called also protopapas.

Protozoonite (n.) One of the primary, or first-formed, segments of an embryonic arthropod.

Proximo () In the next month after the present; -- often contracted to prox.; as, on the 3d proximo.

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.

Pycnogonida (n. pl.) A class of marine arthropods in which the body is small and thin, and the eight legs usually very long; -- called also Pantopoda.

Pyrophorous (a.) Light-producing; of or pertaining to pyrophorus.

Pyrothonide (n.) A kind of empyreumatic oil produced by the combustion of textures of hemp, linen, or cotton in a copper vessel, -- formerly used as a remedial agent.

Quadroon (n.) The offspring of a mulatto and a white person; a person quarter-blooded.

Quartzoid (n.) A form of crystal common with quartz, consisting of two six-sided pyramids, base to base.

Quillwort (n.) Any plant or species of the genus Isoetes, cryptogamous plants with a cluster of elongated four-tubed rushlike leaves, rising from a corm, and containing spores in their enlarged and excavated bases. There are about seventeen American species, usually growing in the mud under still, shallow water. So called from the shape of the shape of the leaves.

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

Redingote (n.) A long plain double-breasted outside coat for women.

Restiform (a.) Formed like a rope; -- applied especially to several ropelike bundles or masses of fibers on the dorsal side of the medulla oblongata.

Rhinolophid (n.) Any species of the genus Rhinilophus, or family Rhinolophidae, having a horseshoe-shaped nasal crest; a horseshoe bat.

Rhinopome (n.) Any old-world bat of the genus Rhinopoma. The rhinopomes have a long tail extending beyond the web, and inhabit caves and tombs.

Rhopalocera (n. pl.) A division of Lepidoptera including all the butterflies. They differ from other Lepidoptera in having club-shaped antennae.

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

Ridotto (n.) A favorite Italian public entertainment, consisting of music and dancing, -- held generally on fast eves.

Rigadoon (n.) A gay, lively dance for one couple, -- said to have been borrowed from Provence in France.

Ripieno (a.) Filling up; supplementary; supernumerary; -- a term applied to those instruments which only swell the mass or tutti of an orchestra, but are not obbligato.

Roseroot (n.) A fleshy-leaved herb (Rhodiola rosea); rosewort; -- so called because the roots have the odor of roses.

Roundhouse (n.) A constable's prison; a lockup, watch-house, or station house.

Roundhouse (n.) A cabin or apartament on the after part of the quarter-deck, having the poop for its roof; -- sometimes called the coach.

Roundtop (n.) A top; a platform at a masthead; -- so called because formerly round in shape.

Rousant (a.) Rising; -- applied to a bird in the attitude of rising; also, sometmes, to a bird in profile with wings addorsed.

Ruiniform (a.) Having the appearance of ruins, or of the ruins of houses; -- said of certain minerals.

Sabbaton (n.) A round-toed, armed covering for the feet, worn during a part of the sixteenth century in both military and civil dress.

Sagacious (a.) Of quick sense perceptions; keen-scented; skilled in following a trail.

Sagacious (a.) Hence, of quick intellectual perceptions; of keen penetration and judgment; discerning and judicious; knowing; far-sighted; shrewd; sage; wise; as, a sagacious man; a sagacious remark.

Saphenous (a.) Manifest; -- applied to the two principal superficial veins of the lower limb of man.

Sarcocolla (n.) A gum resin obtained from certain shrubs of Africa (Penaea), -- formerly thought to cause healing of wounds and ulcers.

Satinwood (n.) The hard, lemon-colored, fragrant wood of an East Indian tree (Chloroxylon Swietenia). It takes a lustrous finish, and is used in cabinetwork. The name is also given to the wood of a species of prickly ash (Xanthoxylum Caribaeum) growing in Florida and the West Indies.

Scherzo (n.) A playful, humorous movement, commonly in 3-4 measure, which often takes the place of the old minuet and trio in a sonata or a symphony.

Schizocarp (n.) A dry fruit which splits at maturity into several closed one-seeded portions.

Scorpio (n.) The eighth sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters about the twenty-third day of October, marked thus [/] in almanacs.

Scorpion (n.) Any one of numerous species of pulmonate arachnids of the order Scorpiones, having a suctorial mouth, large claw-bearing palpi, and a caudal sting.

Scutiform (a.) Shield-shaped; scutate.

Semifloscule (n.) A floscule, or florest, with its corolla prolonged into a strap-shaped petal; -- called also semifloret.

Sfumato (a.) Having vague outlines, and colors and shades so mingled as to give a misty appearance; -- said of a painting.

Shakedown (n.) A temporary substitute for a bed, as one made on the floor or on chairs; -- perhaps originally from the shaking down of straw for this purpose.

Shredcook (n.) The fieldfare; -- so called from its harsh cry before rain.

Siphonophora (n. pl.) An order of pelagic Hydrozoa including species which form complex free-swimming communities composed of numerous zooids of various kinds, some of which act as floats or as swimming organs, others as feeding or nutritive zooids, and others as reproductive zooids. See Illust. under Physallia, and Porpita.

Siphonostomatous (a.) Having the front edge of the aperture of the shell prolonged in the shape of a channel for the protection of the siphon; -- said of certain gastropods.

Skeletonizer (n.) Any small moth whose larva eats the parenchyma of leaves, leaving the skeleton; as, the apple-leaf skeletonizer.

Skirlcock (n.) The missel thrush; -- so called from its harsh alarm note.

Slopshop (n.) A shop where slops. or ready-made clothes, are sold.

Smilodon (n.) An extinct genus of saber-toothed tigers. See Mach/rodus.

Snowshoe (n.) A slight frame of wood three or four feet long and about one third as wide, with thongs or cords stretched across it, and having a support and holder for the foot; -- used by persons for walking on soft snow.

Solution (n.) The act of solving, or the state of being solved; the disentanglement of any intricate problem or difficult question; explanation; clearing up; -- used especially in mathematics, either of the process of solving an equation or problem, or the result of the process.

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

Spadefoot (n.) Any species of burrowing toads of the genus Scaphiopus, esp. S. Holbrookii, of the Eastern United States; -- called also spade toad.

Spearwort (n.) A name given to several species of crowfoot (Ranunculus) which have spear-shaped leaves.

Specksioneer (n.) The chief harpooner, who also directs in cutting up the speck, or blubber; -- so called among whalers.

Spekboom (n.) The purslane tree of South Africa, -- said to be the favorite food of elephants.

Spicewood (n.) An American shrub (Lindera Benzoin), the bark of which has a spicy taste and odor; -- called also Benjamin, wild allspice, and fever bush.

Spiciform (a.) Spike-shaped.

Spiritoso (a. & adv.) Spirited; spiritedly; -- a direction to perform a passage in an animated, lively manner.

Spongiole (n.) A supposed spongelike expansion of the tip of a rootlet for absorbing water; -- called also spongelet.

Spontoon (n.) A kind of half-pike, or halberd, formerly borne by inferior officers of the British infantry, and used in giving signals to the soldiers.

Spoondrift (n.) Spray blown from the tops waves during a gale at sea; also, snow driven in the wind at sea; -- written also spindrift.

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.

Squash (n.) Hence, something unripe or soft; -- used in contempt.

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

Steamboat (n.) A boat or vessel propelled by steam power; -- generally used of river or coasting craft, as distinguished from ocean steamers.

Steinbock (n.) A small South African antelope (Nanotragus tragulus) which frequents dry, rocky districts; -- called also steenbok.

Stellion (n.) A lizard (Stellio vulgaris), common about the Eastern Mediterranean among ruins. In color it is olive-green, shaded with black, with small stellate spots. Called also hardim, and star lizard.

Stellionate (n.) Any fraud not distinguished by a more special name; -- chiefly applied to sales of the same property to two different persons, or selling that for one's own which belongs to another, etc.

Stemmy (a.) Abounding in stems, or mixed with stems; -- said of tea, dried currants, etc.

Sternson (n.) The end of a ship's keelson, to which the sternpost is bolted; -- called also stern knee.

Sterrink (n.) The crab-eating seal (Lobodon carcinophaga) of the Antarctic Ocean.

Stilpnomelane (n.) A black or greenish black mineral occurring in foliated flates, also in velvety bronze-colored incrustations. It is a hydrous silicate of iron and alumina.

Stinkpot (n.) An earthen jar charged with powder, grenades, and other materials of an offensive and suffocating smell, -- sometimes used in boarding an enemy's vessel.

Stomatode (a.) Having a mouth; -- applied to certain Protozoa.

Stonewort (n.) Any plant of the genus Chara; -- so called because they are often incrusted with carbonate of lime. See Chara.

Strepsorhine (a.) Having twisted nostrils; -- said of the lemurs.

Streptobacteria (n. pl.) A so-called variety of bacterium, consisting in reality of several bacteria linked together in the form of a chain.

Sulphion (n.) A hypothetical radical, SO4, regarded as forming the acid or negative constituent of sulphuric acid and the sulphates in electrolytic decomposition; -- so called in accordance with the binary theory of salts.

Sulphoarsenic (a.) Of, pertaining to, or containing, sulphur and arsenic; -- said of an acid which is the same as arsenic acid with the substitution of sulphur for oxygen.

Superdominant (n.) The sixth tone of the scale; that next above the dominant; -- called also submediant.

Superior (a.) Beyond the power or influence of; too great or firm to be subdued or affected by; -- with to.

Superior (a.) Above the ovary; -- said of parts of the flower which, although normally below the ovary, adhere to it, and so appear to originate from its upper part; also of an ovary when the other floral organs are plainly below it in position, and free from it.

Superior (a.) Pointing toward the apex of the fruit; ascending; -- said of the radicle.

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

Supervolute (a.) Having a plainted and convolute arrangement in the bud, as in the morning-glory.

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

Syringotome (n.) A small blunt-pointed bistoury, -- used in syringotomy.

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

Tautegorical (a.) Expressing the same thing with different words; -- opposed to allegorical.

Tautology (n.) A repetition of the same meaning in different words; needless repetition of an idea in different words or phrases; a representation of anything as the cause, condition, or consequence of itself, as in the following lines: --//The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers,/And heavily in clouds brings on the day. Addison.

Teaspoonful (n.) As much as teaspoon will hold; enough to fill a teaspoon; -- usually reckoned at a fluid dram or one quarter of a tablespoonful.

Telescopical (a.) Able to discern objects at a distance; farseeing; far-reaching; as, a telescopic eye; telescopic vision.

Teleutospore (n.) The thick-celled winter or resting spore of the rusts (order Uredinales), produced in late summer. See Illust. of Uredospore.

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

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

Testudo (n.) A kind of musical instrument. a species of lyre; -- so called in allusion to the lyre of Mercury, fabled to have been made of the shell of a tortoise.

Tetrakosane (n.) A hydrocarbon, C24H50, resembling paraffin, and like it belonging to the marsh-gas series; -- so called from having twenty-four atoms of carbon in the molecule.

Thelytokous (a.) Producing females only; -- said of certain female insects.

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 crystalTheretofore (adv.) Up to that time; before then; -- correlative with heretofore.

Thrombosis (n.) The obstruction of a blood vessel by a clot formed at the site of obstruction; -- distinguished from embolism, which is produced by a clot or foreign body brought from a distance.

Ticpolonga (n.) A very venomous viper (Daboia Russellii), native of Ceylon and India; -- called also cobra monil.

Toadstone (n.) A local name for the igneous rocks of Derbyshire, England; -- said by some to be derived from the German todter stein, meaning dead stone, that is, stone which contains no ores.

Toadstool (n.) A name given to many umbrella-shaped fungi, mostly of the genus Agaricus. The species are almost numberless. They grow on decaying organic matter.

Tonnihood (n.) The female of the bullfinch; -- called also tonyhoop.

Torchwort (n.) The common mullein, the stalks of which, dipped in suet, anciently served for torches. Called also torch, and hig-taper.

Torpedo (n.) A kind of small submarine boat carrying an explosive charge, and projected from a ship against another ship at a distance, or made self-propelling, and otherwise automatic in its action against a distant ship.

Torpedo (n.) A kind of detonating cartridge or shell placed on a rail, and exploded when crushed under the locomotive wheels, -- used as an alarm signal.

Tracheobranchia (n.) One of the gill-like breathing organs of certain aquatic insect larvae. They contain tracheal tubes somewhat similar to those of other insects.

Tracheobronchial (a.) Pertaining both to the tracheal and bronchial tubes, or to their junction; -- said of the syrinx of certain birds.

Traditor (n.) A deliverer; -- a name of infamy given to Christians who delivered the Scriptures, or the goods of the church, to their persecutors to save their lives.

Transformism (n.) The hypothesis, or doctrine, that living beings have originated by the modification of some other previously existing forms of living matter; -- opposed to abiogenesis.

Transport (v.) A vessel employed for transporting, especially for carrying soldiers, warlike stores, or provisions, from one place to another, or to convey convicts to their destination; -- called also transport ship, transport vessel.

Transpose (v. t.) To bring, as any term of an equation, from one side over to the other, without destroying the equation; thus, if a + b = c, and we make a = c - b, then b is said to be transposed.

Trapdoor (n.) A door in a level for regulating the ventilating current; -- called also weather door.

Trapezohedron (n.) A solid bounded by twenty-four equal and similar trapeziums; a tetragonal trisoctahedron. See the Note under Trisoctahedron.

Trapezoid (n.) A plane four-sided figure, having two sides parallel to each other.

Trehalose (n.) Mycose; -- so called because sometimes obtained from trehala.

Tremolo (n.) A certain contrivance in an organ, which causes the notes to sound with rapid pulses or beats, producing a tremulous effect; -- called also tremolant, and tremulant.

Trichromatic (a.) Having or existing in three different phases of color; having three distinct color varieties; -- said of certain birds and insects.

Tricolor (n.) Hence, any three-colored flag.

Trigamous (a.) Having three sorts of flowers in the same head, -- male, female, and hermaphrodite, or perfect, flowers.

Tropaeolin (n.) A name given to any one of a series of orange-red dyestuffs produced artificially from certain complex sulphonic acid derivatives of azo and diazo hydrocarbons of the aromatic series; -- so called because of the general resemblance to the shades of nasturtium (Tropaeolum).

Tschego (n.) A West African anthropoid ape allied to the gorilla and chimpanzee, and by some considered only a variety of the chimpanzee. It is noted for building large, umbrella-shaped nests in trees. Called also tscheigo, tschiego, nschego, nscheigo.

Tulipwood (n.) The beautiful rose-colored striped wood of a Brazilian tree (Physocalymna floribunda), much used by cabinetmakers for inlaying.

Tympano (n.) A kettledrum; -- chiefly used in the plural to denote the kettledrums of an orchestra. See Kettledrum.

Ulterior (a.) Situated beyond, or on the farther side; thither; -- correlative with hither.

Ultramontanism (n.) The principles of those within the Roman Catholic Church who maintain extreme views favoring the pope's supremacy; -- so used by those living north of the Alps in reference to the Italians; -- rarely used in an opposite sense, as referring to the views of those living north of the Alps and opposed to the papal claims. Cf. Gallicanism.

Underdo (v. i.) To do less than is requisite or proper; -- opposed to overdo.

Underdo (v. t.) To do less thoroughly than is requisite; specifically, to cook insufficiently; as, to underdo the meat; -- opposed to overdo.

Underlocker (n.) A person who inspects a mine daily; -- called also underviewer.

Underwood (n.) Small trees and bushes that grow among large trees; coppice; underbrush; -- formerly used in the plural.

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

Unseasonable (a.) Not seasonable; being, done, or occurring out of the proper season; ill-timed; untimely; too early or too late; as, he called at an unseasonable hour; unseasonable advice; unseasonable frosts; unseasonable food.

Unseasoned (a.) Untimely; ill-timed.

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.

Veinstone (n.) The nonmetalliferous mineral or rock material which accompanies the ores in a vein, as quartz, calcite, barite, fluor spar, etc.; -- called also veinstuff.

Versemonger (n.) A writer of verses; especially, a writer of commonplace poetry; a poetaster; a rhymer; -- used humorously or in contempt.

Vicarious (prep.) Acting as a substitute; -- said of abnormal action which replaces a suppressed normal function; as, vicarious hemorrhage replacing menstruation.

Villiform (a.) Having the form or appearance of villi; like close-set fibers, either hard or soft; as, the teeth of perch are villiform.

Vincetoxin (n.) A glucoside extracted from the root of the white swallowwort (Vincetoxicum officinale, a plant of the Asclepias family) as a bitter yellow amorphous substance; -- called also asclepiadin, and cynanchin.

Vivacious (a.) Having vigorous powers of life; tenacious of life; long-lived.

Volcano (n.) A mountain or hill, usually more or less conical in form, from which lava, cinders, steam, sulphur gases, and the like, are ejected; -- often popularly called a burning mountain.

Wallflower (n.) A perennial, cruciferous plant (Cheiranthus Cheiri), with sweet-scented flowers varying in color from yellow to orange and deep red. In Europe it very common on old walls.

Wamble (v. i.) To heave; to be disturbed by nausea; -- said of the stomach.

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.

Wapatoo (n.) The edible tuber of a species of arrowhead (Sagittaria variabilis); -- so called by the Indians of Oregon.

Waterfowl (n.) Any bird that frequents the water, or lives about rivers, lakes, etc., or on or near the sea; an aquatic fowl; -- used also collectively.

Waterwork (n.) Painting executed in size or distemper, on canvas or walls, -- formerly, frequently taking the place of tapestry.

Waterwork (n.) An hydraulic apparatus, or a system of works or fixtures, by which a supply of water is furnished for useful or ornamental purposes, including dams, sluices, pumps, aqueducts, distributing pipes, fountains, etc.; -- used chiefly in the plural.

Wedgwood ware () A kind of fine pottery, the most remarkable being what is called jasper, either white, or colored throughout the body, and capable of being molded into the most delicate forms, so that fine and minute bas-reliefs like cameos were made of it, fit even for being set as jewels.

Whealworm (n.) The harvest mite; -- so called from the wheals, caused by its bite.

Wherefore (adv. & conj.) For which reason; so; -- used relatively.

Wherefore (adv. & conj.) For what reason; why; -- used interrogatively.

Whereto (adv.) To which; -- used relatively.

Whereto (adv.) To what; to what end; -- used interrogatively.

Whinstone (n.) A provincial name given in England to basaltic rocks, and applied by miners to other kind of dark-colored unstratified rocks which resist the point of the pick. -- for example, to masses of chert. Whin-dikes, and whin-sills, are names sometimes given to veins or beds of basalt.

Whitewood (n.) The soft and easily-worked wood of the tulip tree (Liriodendron). It is much used in cabinetwork, carriage building, etc.

Whoreson (n.) A bastard; colloquially, a low, scurvy fellow; -- used generally in contempt, or in coarse humor. Also used adjectively.

Windflower (n.) The anemone; -- so called because formerly supposed to open only when the wind was blowing. See Anemone.

Wringbolt (n.) A bolt used by shipwrights, to bend and secure the planks against the timbers till they are fastened by bolts, spikes, or treenails; -- not to be confounded with ringbolt.

Zantewood (n.) A yellow dyewood; fustet; -- called also zante, and zante fustic. See Fustet, and the Note under Fustic.

Zircono () See Zirco-.

Zirconoid (n.) A double eight-sided pyramid, a form common with tetragonal crystals; -- so called because this form often occurs in crystals of zircon.

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

Zygospore (n.) A spore formed by the union of several zoospores; -- called also zygozoospore.

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.