Words whose 8th letter is O

Abdominous (a.) Having a protuberant belly; pot-bellied.

Accession (n.) The act of coming to or reaching a throne, an office, or dignity; as, the accession of the house of Stuart; -- applied especially to the epoch of a new dynasty.

Accretion (n.) Gain to an heir or legatee, failure of a coheir to the same succession, or a co-legatee of the same thing, to take his share.

Acephalocyst (n.) A larval entozoon in the form of a subglobular or oval vesicle, or hydatid, filled with fluid, sometimes found in the tissues of man and the lower animals; -- so called from the absence of a head or visible organs on the vesicle. These cysts are the immature stages of certain tapeworms. Also applied to similar cysts of different origin.

Acephalous (a.) Without a distinct head; -- a term applied to bivalve mollusks.

Adduction (n.) The action by which the parts of the body are drawn towards its axis]; -- opposed to abduction.

Aeriferous (a.) Conveying or containing air; air-bearing; as, the windpipe is an aeriferous tube.

Aesthesodic (a.) Conveying sensory or afferent impulses; -- said of nerves.

Affection (n.) A settled good will; kind feeling; love; zealous or tender attachment; -- often in the pl. Formerly followed by to, but now more generally by for or towards; as, filial, social, or conjugal affections; to have an affection for or towards children.

Affectionate (a.) Strongly inclined; -- with to.

Alfresco (adv. & a.) In the open-air.

Almendron (n.) The lofty Brazil-nut tree.

Alutaceous (a.) Of a pale brown color; leather-yellow.

Ambilevous (a.) Left-handed on both sides; clumsy; -- opposed to ambidexter.

Ambiparous (a.) Characterized by containing the rudiments of both flowers and leaves; -- applied to a bud.

Ambulator (n.) An instrument for measuring distances; -- called also perambulator.

Amphidromical (a.) Pertaining to an Attic festival at the naming of a child; -- so called because the friends of the parents carried the child around the hearth and then named it.

Amygdaloidal (a.) Almond-shaped.

Anadiplosis (n.) A repetition of the last word or any prominent word in a sentence or clause, at the beginning of the next, with an adjunct idea; as, "He retained his virtues amidst all his misfortunes -- misfortunes which no prudence could foresee or prevent."

Anadromous (a.) Tending upwards; -- said of terns in which the lowest secondary segments are on the upper side of the branch of the central stem.

Anarthropoda (n. pl.) One of the divisions of Articulata in which there are no jointed legs, as the annelids; -- opposed to Arthropoda.

Anatropous (a.) Having the ovule inverted at an early period in its development, so that the chalaza is as the apparent apex; -- opposed to orthotropous.

Ancipitous (a.) Two-edged instead of round; -- said of certain flattened stems, as those of blue grass, and rarely also of leaves.

Ancistroid (a.) Hook-shaped.

Anemoscope (n.) An instrument which shows the direction of the wind; a wind vane; a weathercock; -- usually applied to a contrivance consisting of a vane above, connected in the building with a dial or index with pointers to show the changes of the wind.

Anthraconite (n.) A coal-black marble, usually emitting a fetid smell when rubbed; -- called also stinkstone and swinestone.

Anthropocentric (a.) Assuming man as the center or ultimate end; -- applied to theories of the universe or of any part of it, as the solar system.

Anthropoid (a.) Resembling man; -- applied especially to certain apes, as the ourang or gorilla.

Anthropology (n.) The science of man; -- sometimes used in a limited sense to mean the study of man as an object of natural history, or as an animal.

Antilogous (a.) Of the contrary name or character; -- opposed to analogous.

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

Aquiparous (a.) Secreting water; -- applied to certain glands.

Arboricole (a.) Tree-inhabiting; -- said of certain birds.

Archebiosis (n.) The origination of living matter from non-living. See Abiogenesis.

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

Auriferous (a.) Gold-bearing; containing or producing gold.

Aurivorous (a.) Gold-devouring.

Aurochloride (n.) The trichloride of gold combination with the chloride of another metal, forming a double chloride; -- called also chloraurate.

Auspicious (a.) Favoring; favorable; propitious; -- applied to persons or things.

Autochronograph (n.) An instrument for the instantaneous self-recording or printing of time.

Autogamous (a.) Characterized by autogamy; self-fertilized.

Autogenous (a.) Self-generated; produced independently.

Automaton (v. i.) A self-moving machine, or one which has its motive power within itself; -- applied chiefly to machines which appear to imitate spontaneously the motions of living beings, such as men, birds, etc.

Autonomous (a.) Independent in government; having the right or power of self-government.

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

Barringout (n.) The act of closing the doors of a schoolroom against a schoolmaster; -- a boyish mode of rebellion in schools.

Batrachomyomachy (n.) The battle between the frogs and mice; -- a Greek parody on the Iliad, of uncertain authorship.

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

Blandiloquious (a.) Fair-spoken; flattering.

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.

Bloodstone (n.) A green siliceous stone sprinkled with red jasper, as if with blood; hence the name; -- called also heliotrope.

Bluethroat (n.) A singing bird of northern Europe and Asia (Cyanecula Suecica), related to the nightingales; -- called also blue-throated robin and blue-throated warbler.

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

Borofluoride (n.) A double fluoride of boron and hydrogen, or some other positive element, or radical; -- called also fluoboride, and formerly fluoborate.

Botocudos (n. pl.) A Brazilian tribe of Indians, noted for their use of poisons; -- also called Aymbores.

Bottleholder (n.) One who attends a pugilist in a prize fight; -- so called from the bottle of water of which he has charge.

Branchiopoda (n. pl.) An order of Entomostraca; -- so named from the feet of branchiopods having been supposed to perform the function of gills. It includes the fresh-water genera Branchipus, Apus, and Limnadia, and the genus Artemia found in salt lakes. It is also called Phyllopoda. See Phyllopoda, Cladocera. It is sometimes used in a broader sense.

Breastwork (n.) A railing on the quarter-deck and forecastle.

Broadcloth (n.) A fine smooth-faced woolen cloth for men's garments, usually of double width (i.e., a yard and a half); -- so called in distinction from woolens three quarters of a yard wide.

Brontozoum (n.) An extinct animal of large size, known from its three-toed footprints in Mesozoic sandstone.

Buttonwood (n.) The Platanus occidentalis, or American plane tree, a large tree, producing rough balls, from which it is named; -- called also buttonball tree, and, in some parts of the United States, sycamore. The California buttonwood is P. racemosa.

Calceiform (a.) Shaped like a slipper, as one petal of the lady's-slipper; calceolate.

Calycozoa (n. pl.) A group of acalephs of which Lucernaria is the type. The body is cup-shaped with eight marginal lobes bearing clavate tentacles. An aboral sucker serves for attachment. The interior is divided into four large compartments. See Lucernarida.

Cancriform (a.) Having the form of, or resembling, a crab; crab-shaped.

Cariccio (n.) A piece in a free form, with frequent digressions from the theme; a fantasia; -- often called caprice.

Cassideous (a.) Helmet-shaped; -- applied to a corolla having a broad, helmet-shaped upper petal, as in aconite.

Catastrophism (n.) The doctrine that the geological changes in the earth's crust have been caused by the sudden action of violent physical causes; -- opposed to the doctrine of uniformism.

Centreboard (n.) A movable or sliding keel formed of a broad board or slab of wood or metal which may be raised into a water-tight case amidships, when in shallow water, or may be lowered to increase the area of lateral resistance and prevent leeway when the vessel is beating to windward. It is used in vessels of all sizes along the coast of the United States

Centicipitous (a.) Hundred-headed.

Chassepot (n.) A kind of breechloading, center-fire rifle, or improved needle gun.

Chebacco (n.) A narrow-sterned boat formerly much used in the Newfoundland fisheries; -- called also pinkstern and chebec.

Chivalrous (a.) Pertaining to chivalry or knight-errantry; warlike; heroic; gallant; high-spirited; high-minded; magnanimous.

Chromatoscope (n.) A reflecting telescope, part of which is made to rotate eccentrically, so as to produce a ringlike image of a star, instead of a point; -- used in studying the scintillation of the stars.

Cinquefoil (n.) The name of several different species of the genus Potentilla; -- also called five-finger, because of the resemblance of its leaves to the fingers of the hand.

Circumpolar (a.) About the pole; -- applied to stars that revolve around the pole without setting; as, circumpolar stars.

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

Clarichord (n.) A musical instrument, formerly in use, in form of a spinet; -- called also manichord and clavichord.

Clypeiform (a.) Shield-shaped; clypeate.

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.

Cognation (n.) That tie of consanguinity which exists between persons descended from the same mother; -- used in distinction from agnation.

Collation (v. t.) A light repast or luncheon; as, a cold collation; -- first applied to the refreshment on fast days that accompanied the reading of the collation in monasteries.

Colorado beetle () A yellowish beetle (Doryphora decemlineata), with ten longitudinal, black, dorsal stripes. It has migrated eastwards from its original habitat in Colorado, and is very destructive to the potato plant; -- called also potato beetle and potato bug. See Potato beetle.

Coloradoite (n.) Mercury telluride, an iron-black metallic mineral, found in Colorado.

Companion (n.) A fellow; -- in contempt.

Conchiform (a.) Shaped like one half of a bivalve shell; shell-shaped.

Condition (n.) A clause in a contract, or agreement, which has for its object to suspend, to defeat, or in some way to modify, the principal obligation; or, in case of a will, to suspend, revoke, or modify a devise or bequest. It is also the case of a future uncertain event, which may or may not happen, and on the occurrence or non-occurrence of which, the accomplishment, recission, or modification of an obligation or testamentary disposition is made to depend.

Confusion (n.) The state of being abashed or disconcerted; loss self-possession; perturbation; shame.

Consignor (n.) One who consigns something to another; -- opposed to consignee.

Consistorian (a.) Pertaining to a Presbyterian consistory; -- a contemptuous term of 17th century controversy.

Contraposition (n.) A so-called immediate inference which consists in denying the original subject of the contradictory predicate; e.g.: Every S is P; therefore, no Not-P is S.

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

Correspond (v. i.) To be like something else in the dimensions and arrangement of its parts; -- followed by with or to; as, concurring figures correspond with each other throughout.

Correspond (v. i.) To be adapted; to be congruous; to suit; to agree; to fit; to answer; -- followed by to.

Correspond (v. i.) To have intercourse or communion; especially, to hold intercourse or to communicate by sending and receiving letters; -- followed by with.

Courtehouse (n.) A county town; -- so called in Virginia and some others of the Southern States.

Craspedota (n. pl.) The hydroid or naked-eyed medusae. See Hydroidea.

Culiciform (a.) Gnat-shaped.

Cultrivorous (a.) Devouring knives; swallowing, or pretending to swallow, knives; -- applied to persons who have swallowed, or have seemed to swallow, knives with impunity.

Cunctipotent (a.) All-powerful; omnipotent.

Curculio (n.) One of a large group of beetles (Rhynchophora) of many genera; -- called also weevils, snout beetles, billbeetles, and billbugs. Many of the species are very destructive, as the plum curculio, the corn, grain, and rice weevils, etc.

Cyamellone (n.) A complex derivative of cyanogen, regarded as an acid, and known chiefly in its salts; -- called also hydromellonic acid.

Cylindroid (n.) A certain surface of the third degree, described by a moving straight line; -- used to illustrate the motions of a rigid body and also the forces acting on the body.

Cytogenous (a.) Producing cells; -- applied esp. to lymphatic, or adenoid, tissue.

Dandelion (n.) A well-known plant of the genus Taraxacum (T. officinale, formerly called T. Dens-leonis and Leontodos Taraxacum) bearing large, yellow, compound flowers, and deeply notched leaves.

Decameron (n.) A celebrated collection of tales, supposed to be related in ten days; -- written in the 14th century, by Boccaccio, an Italian.

Decession (n.) Departure; decrease; -- opposed to accesion.

Decillion (n.) According to the English notation, a million involved to the tenth power, or a unit with sixty ciphers annexed; according to the French and American notation, a thousand involved to the eleventh power, or a unit with thirty-three ciphers annexed. [See the Note under Numeration.]

Defluxion (n.) A discharge or flowing of humors or fluid matter, as from the nose in catarrh; -- sometimes used synonymously with inflammation.

Depositor (n.) One who makes a deposit, especially of money in a bank; -- the correlative of depository.

Derogatory (a.) Tending to derogate, or lessen in value; expressing derogation; detracting; injurious; -- with from to, or unto.

Diacatholicon (n.) A universal remedy; -- name formerly to a purgative electuary.

Digitiform (a.) Formed like a finger or fingers; finger-shaped; as, a digitiform root.

Dimension (n.) Measure in a single line, as length, breadth, height, thickness, or circumference; extension; measurement; -- usually, in the plural, measure in length and breadth, or in length, breadth, and thickness; extent; size; as, the dimensions of a room, or of a ship; the dimensions of a farm, of a kingdom.

Dioxindol (n.) A white, crystalline, nitrogenous substance obtained by the reduction of isatin. It is a member of the indol series; -- hence its name.

Dipetalous (a.) Having two petals; two-petaled.

Diphyodont (a.) Having two successive sets of teeth (deciduous and permanent), one succeeding the other; as, a diphyodont mammal; diphyodont dentition; -- opposed to monophyodont.

Diphyozooid (n.) One of the free-swimming sexual zooids of Siphonophora.

Direction (n.) The pointing of a piece with reference to an imaginary vertical axis; -- distinguished from elevation. The direction is given when the plane of sight passes through the object.

Disapprove (v. t.) To refuse official approbation to; to disallow; to decDisastrous (a.) Full of unpropitious stellar influences; unpropitious; ill-boding.

Disastrous (a.) Attended with suffering or disaster; very unfortunate; calamitous; ill-fated; as, a disastrous day; a disastrous termination of an undertaking.

Disciflorous (a.) Bearing the stamens on a discoid outgrowth of the receptacle; -- said of a subclass of plants. Cf. Calycifloral.

Disepalous (a.) Having two sepals; two-sepaled.

Disimprove (v. t.) To make worse; -- the opposite of improve.

Distichous (n.) Disposed in two vertical rows; two-ranked.

Ditrichotomous (a.) Dividing into double or treble ramifications; -- said of a leaf or stem.

Doloroso (a. & adv.) Plaintive; pathetic; -- used adverbially as a musical direction.

Drakestone (n.) A flat stone so thrown along the surface of water as to skip from point to point before it sinks; also, the sport of so throwing stones; -- sometimes called ducks and drakes.

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

Ebracteolate (a.) Without bracteoles, or little bracts; -- said of a pedicel or flower stalk.

Elevation (n.) The act of raising from a lower place, condition, or quality to a higher; -- said of material things, persons, the mind, the voice, etc.; as, the elevation of grain; elevation to a throne; elevation of mind, thoughts, or character.

Elevation (n.) The movement of the axis of a piece in a vertical plane; also, the angle of elevation, that is, the angle between the axis of the piece and the Elevation (n.) A geometrical projection of a building, or other object, on a plane perpendicular to the horizon; orthographic projection on a vertical plane; -- called by the ancients the orthography.

Endogamous (a.) Marrying within the same tribe; -- opposed to exogamous.

Enterotome (n.) A kind of scissors used for opening the intestinal canal, as in post-mortem examinations.

Epileptogenous (a.) Producing epilepsy or epileptoid convulsions; -- applied to areas of the body or of the nervous system, stimulation of which produces convulsions.

Erucifrom (a.) Having the form of a caterpillar; -- said of insect larvae.

Eschscholtzia (n.) A genus of papaveraceous plants, found in California and upon the west coast of North America, some species of which produce beautiful yellow, orange, rose-colored, or white flowers; the California poppy.

Etheostomoid (n.) Any fish of the genus Etheostoma and related genera, allied to the perches; -- also called darter. The etheostomoids are small and often bright-colored fishes inhabiting the fresh waters of North America. About seventy species are known. See Darter.

Euphonious (a.) Pleasing or sweet in sound; euphonic; smooth-sounding.

Evolution (n.) The extraction of roots; -- the reverse of involution.

Evolution (n.) That theory of generation which supposes the germ to preexist in the parent, and its parts to be developed, but not actually formed, by the procreative act; -- opposed to epigenesis.

Exception (n.) An objection; cavil; dissent; disapprobation; offense; cause of offense; -- usually followed by to or against.

Exclusionist (n.) One who would exclude another from some right or privilege; esp., one of the anti-popish politicians of the time of Charles II.

Execution (n.) That which is executed or accomplished; effect; effective work; -- usually with do.

Extension (v. t.) Capacity of a concept or general term to include a greater or smaller number of objects; -- correlative of intension.

Fandango (n.) A lively dance, in 3-8 or 6-8 time, much practiced in Spain and Spanish America. Also, the tune to which it is danced.

Fatiferous (a.) Fate-bringing; deadly; mortal; destructive.

Fatling (n.) A calf, lamb, kid, or other young animal fattened for slaughter; a fat animal; -- said of such animals as are used for food.

Flagitious (a.) Disgracefully or shamefully criminal; grossly wicked; scandalous; shameful; -- said of acts, crimes, etc.

Flagitious (a.) Guilty of enormous crimes; corrupt; profligate; -- said of persons.

Foliation (n.) The act of coating with an amalgam of tin foil and quicksilver, as in making looking-glasses.

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

Fricando (n.) A ragout or fricassee of veal; a fancy dish of veal or of boned turkey, served as an entree, -- called also fricandel.

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

Fructidor (n.) The twelfth month of the French republican calendar; -- commencing August 18, and ending September 16. See Vendemiaire.

Gastropoda (n. pl.) One of the classes of Mollusca, of great extent. It includes most of the marine spiral shells, and the land and fresh-water snails. They generally creep by means of a flat, muscular disk, or foot, on the ventral side of the body. The head usually bears one or two pairs of tentacles. See Mollusca.

Generator (n.) The principal sound or sounds by which others are produced; the fundamental note or root of the common chord; -- called also generating tone.

Geophagous (a.) Earth-eating.

Glaucodot (n.) A metallic mineral having a grayish tin-white color, and containing cobalt and iron, with sulphur and arsenic.

Globeflower (n.) A plant of the genus Trollius (T. Europaeus), found in the mountainous parts of Europe, and producing handsome globe-shaped flowers.

Grandiloquence (n.) The use of lofty words or phrases; bombast; -- usually in a bad sense.

Grapeshot (n.) A cluster, usually nine in number, of small iron balls, put together by means of cast-iron circular plates at top and bottom, with two rings, and a central connecting rod, in order to be used as a charge for a cannon. Formerly grapeshot were inclosed in canvas bags.

Greenstone (n.) A name formerly applied rather loosely to certain dark-colored igneous rocks, including diorite, diabase, etc.

Guacharo (n.) A nocturnal bird of South America and Trinidad (Steatornis Caripensis, or S. steatornis); -- called also oilbird.

Hagioscope (n.) An opening made in the interior walls of a cruciform church to afford a view of the altar to those in the transepts; -- called, in architecture, a squint.

Heliotrope (n.) A plant of the genus Heliotropium; -- called also turnsole and girasole. H. Peruvianum is the commonly cultivated species with fragrant flowers.

Hemigamous (a.) Having one of the two florets in the same spikelet neuter, and the other unisexual, whether male or female; -- said of grasses.

Heterodont (a.) Having the teeth differentiated into incisors, canines, and molars, as in man; -- opposed to homodont.

Heterodox (a.) Contrary to, or differing from, some acknowledged standard, as the Bible, the creed of a church, the decree of a council, and the like; not orthodox; heretical; -- said of opinions, doctrines, books, etc., esp. upon theological subjects.

Heterodox (a.) Holding heterodox opinions, or doctrines not orthodox; heretical; -- said of persons.

Heterologous (a.) Characterized by heterology; consisting of different elements, or of like elements in different proportions; different; -- opposed to homologous; as, heterologous organs.

Heterology (n.) The absence of correspondence, or relation, in type of structure; lack of analogy between parts, owing to their being composed of different elements, or of like elements in different proportions; variation in structure from the normal form; -- opposed to homology.

Heteromorphic (a.) Deviating from the normal, perfect, or mature form; having different forms at different stages of existence, or in different individuals of the same species; -- applied especially to insects in which there is a wide difference of form between the larva and the adult, and to plants having more than one form of flower.

Heteronomy (n.) Subordination or subjection to the law of another; political subjection of a community or state; -- opposed to autonomy.

Heterotopy (n.) A deviation from the natural position; -- a term applied in the case of organs or growths which are abnormal in situation.

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

Homogamous (a.) Having all the flowers alike; -- said of such composite plants as Eupatorium, and the thistels.

Homogenous (a.) Having a resemblance in structure, due to descent from a common progenitor with subsequent modification; homogenetic; -- applied both to animals and plants. See Homoplastic.

Homologoumena (n. pl.) Those books of the New Testament which were acknowledged as canonical by the early church; -- distinguished from antilegomena.

Homonymous (a.) Having the same name or designation; standing in the same relation; -- opposed to heteronymous.

Hyalospongia (n. pl.) An order of vitreous sponges, having glassy six-rayed, siliceous spicules; -- called also Hexactinellinae.

Hydrobromide (n.) A compound of hydrobromic acid with a base; -- distinguished from a bromide, in which only the bromine unites with the base.

Hyperapophysis (n.) A lateral and backward-projecting process on the dorsal side of a vertebra.

Hypertrophy (n.) A condition of overgrowth or excessive development of an organ or part; -- the opposite of atrophy.

Hypogynous (a.) Inserted below the pistil or pistils; -- said of sepals, petals, and stamens; having the sepals, petals, and stamens inserted below the pistil; -- said of a flower or a plant.

Hystricomorphous (a.) Like, or allied to, the porcupines; -- said of a group (Hystricomorpha) of rodents.

Iguanodon (n.) A genus of gigantic herbivorous dinosaurs having a birdlike pelvis and large hind legs with three-toed feet capable of supporting the entire body. Its teeth resemble those of the iguana, whence its name. Several species are known, mostly from the Wealden of England and Europe. See Illustration in Appendix.

liad (n.) A celebrated Greek epic poem, in twenty-four books, on the destruction of Ilium, the ancient Troy. The Iliad is ascribed to Homer.

Immersion (n.) The dissapearance of a celestail body, by passing either behind another, as in the occultation of a star, or into its shadow, as in the eclipse of a satellite; -- opposed to emersion.

Immission (n.) The act of immitting, or of sending or thrusting in; injection; -- the correlative of emission.

Immolator (n.) One who offers in sacrifice; specifically, one of a sect of Russian fanatics who practice self-mutilatio and sacrifice.

Imperator (n.) A commander; a leader; an emperor; -- originally an appellation of honor by which Roman soldiers saluted their general after an important victory. Subsequently the title was conferred as a recognition of great military achievements by the senate, whence it carried wiht it some special privileges. After the downfall of the Republic it was assumed by Augustus and his successors, and came to have the meaning now attached to the word emperor.

Implosion (n.) A burstion inwards, as of a vessel from which the air has been exhausted; -- contrasted with explosion.

Inclinnometer (n.) An apparatus to determine the inclination of the earth's magnetic force to the plane of the horizon; -- called also inclination compass, and dip circle.

Inducteous (a.) Rendered electro-polar by induction, or brought into the opposite electrical state by the influence of inductive bodies.

Induction (n.) A process of demonstration in which a general truth is gathered from an examination of particular cases, one of which is known to be true, the examination being so conducted that each case is made to depend on the preceding one; -- called also successive induction.

Inflation (n.) Undue expansion or increase, from overissue; -- said of currency.

Infratrochlear (a.) Below a trochlea, or pulley; -- applied esp. to one of the subdivisions of the trigeminal nerve.

Injection (n.) The act of injecting or throwing in; -- applied particularly to the forcible throwing in of a liquid, or aeriform body, by means of a syringe, pump, etc.

Innuendo (n.) An averment employed in pleading, to point the application of matter otherwise unintelligible; an interpretative parenthesis thrown into quoted matter to explain an obscure word or words; -- as, the plaintiff avers that the defendant said that he (innuendo the plaintiff) was a thief.

Insertion (n.) The point or part by which a muscle or tendon is attached to the part to be moved; -- in contradistinction to its origin.

Intaglio (n.) A cutting or engraving; a figure cut into something, as a gem, so as to make a design depressed below the surface of the material; hence, anything so carved or impressed, as a gem, matrix, etc.; -- opposed to cameo. Also used adjectively.

Intension (n.) The collective attributes, qualities, or marks that make up a complex general notion; the comprehension, content, or connotation; -- opposed to extension, extent, or sphere.

Intentioned (a.) Having designs; -- chiefly used in composition; as, well-intentioned, having good designs; ill-intentioned, having ill designs.

Interglobular (a.) Between globules; -- applied esp. to certain small spaces, surrounded by minute globules, in dentine.

Intuition (n.) Direct apprehension or cognition; immediate knowledge, as in perception or consciousness; -- distinguished from "mediate" knowledge, as in reasoning; as, the mind knows by intuition that black is not white, that a circle is not a square, that three are more than two, etc.; quick or ready insight or apprehension.

Intuitionalism (n.) The doctrine that the perception or recognition of primary truth is intuitive, or direct and immediate; -- opposed to sensationalism, and experientialism.

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

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

Kinglihood (n.) King-liness.

Lageniform (a.) Shaped like a bottle or flask; flag-shaped.

Leontodon (n.) A genus of liguliflorous composite plants, including the fall dandelion (L. autumnale), and formerly the true dandelion; -- called also lion's tooth.

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

Libration point (n.) any one of five points in the plane of a system of two large astronomical bodies orbiting each other, as the Earth-moon system, where the gravitational pull of the two bodies on an object are approximately equal, and in opposite directions. A solid object moving in the same velocity and direction as such a libration point will remain in gravitational equilibrium with the two bodies of the system and not fall toward either body.

Liliaceous (a.) Of or pertaining to a natural order of which the lily, tulip, and hyacinth are well-known examples.

Linguiform (a.) Having the form of the tongue; tongue-shaped.

Lyriferous (a.) Having a lyre-shaped shoulder girdle, as certain fishes.

Machairodus (n.) A genus of extinct mammals allied to the cats, and having in the upper jaw canine teeth of remarkable size and strength; -- hence called saber-toothed tigers.

Mackintosh (n.) A waterproof outer garment; -- so called from the name of the inventor.

Macrobiotic (a.) Long-lived.

Macroscopical (a.) Visible to the unassisted eye; -- as opposed to microscopic.

Macrosporangium (n.) A sporangium or conceptacle containing only large spores; -- opposed to microsporangium. Both are found in the genera Selaginella, Isoctes, and Marsilia, plants remotely allied to ferns.

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

Maestoso (a. & adv.) Majestic or majestically; -- a direction to perform a passage or piece of music in a dignified manner.

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

Malacopoda (n. pl.) A class of air-breathing Arthropoda; -- called also Protracheata, and Onychophora.

Malvaceous (a.) Pertaining to, or resembling, a natural order of plants (Malvaceae), of which the mallow is the type. The cotton plant, hollyhock, and abutilon are of this order, and the baobab and the silk-cotton trees are now referred to it.

Meadowwort (n.) The name of several plants of the genus Spiraea, especially the white- or pink-flowered S. salicifolia, a low European and American shrub, and the herbaceous S. Ulmaria, which has fragrant white flowers in compound cymes.

Melancholia (n.) A kind of mental unsoundness characterized by extreme depression of spirits, ill-grounded fears, delusions, and brooding over one particular subject or train of ideas.

Melanocomous (a.) Having very dark or black hair; black-haired.

Melicerous (a.) Consisting of or containing matter like honey; -- said of certain encysted tumors.

Merrythought (n.) The forked bone of a fowl's breast; -- called also wishbone. See Furculum.

Mesiad (adv.) Toward, or on the side toward, the mesial plane; mesially; -- opposed to laterad.

Metacetone (n.) A colorless liquid of an agreeable odor, C6H10O, obtained by distilling a mixture of sugar and lime; -- so called because formerly regarded as a polymeric modification of acetone.

Metosteon (n.) The postero-lateral ossification in the sternum of birds; also, the part resulting from such ossification.

Microbion (n.) A microscopic organism; -- particularly applied to bacteria and especially to pathogenic forms; as, the microbe of fowl cholera.

Millefiore glass () Slender rods or tubes of colored glass fused together and embedded in clear glass; -- used for paperweights and other small articles.

Miraculous (a.) Wonder-working.

Misericordia (n.) A thin-bladed dagger; so called, in the Middle Ages, because used to give the death wound or "mercy" stroke to a fallen adversary.

Misurato (a.) Measured; -- a direction to perform a passage in strict or measured time.

Mixogamous (a.) Pairing with several males; -- said of certain fishes of which several males accompany each female during spawning.

Modillion (n.) The enriched block or horizontal bracket generally found under the cornice of the Corinthian and Composite entablature, and sometimes, less ornamented, in the Ionic and other orders; -- so called because of its arrangement at regulated distances.

Molluscoidea (n. pl.) A division of Invertebrata which includes the classes Brachiopoda and Bryozoa; -- called also Anthoid Mollusca.

Monanthous (a.) Having but one flower; one-flowered.

Monoceros (n.) A one-horned creature; a unicorn; a sea monster with one horn.

Monoecious (a.) Having the sexes united in one individual, as when male and female flowers grow upon the same individual plant; hermaphrodite; -- opposed to dioecious.

Monogamous (a.) Mating with but one of the opposite sex; -- said of birds and mammals.

Monomerous (a.) Having but one joint; -- said of the foot of certain insects.

Monophyodont (a.) Having but one set of teeth; -- opposed to diphyodont.

Monsignore (n.) My lord; -- an ecclesiastical dignity bestowed by the pope, entitling the bearer to social and domestic rank at the papal court. (Abbrev. Mgr.)

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.

Mummichog (n.) Any one of several species of small American cyprinodont fishes of the genus Fundulus, and of allied genera; the killifishes; -- called also minnow.

Necrophore (n.) Any one of numerous species of beetles of the genus Necrophorus and allied genera; -- called also burying beetle, carrion beetle, sexton beetle.

Necroscopical (a.) Or or relating to post-mortem examinations.

Needlebook (n.) A book-shaped needlecase, having leaves of cloth into which the needles are stuck.

Neoplatonism (n.) A pantheistic eclectic school of philosophy, of which Plotinus was the chief (A. D. 205-270), and which sought to reconcile the Platonic and Aristotelian systems with Oriental theosophy. It tended to mysticism and theurgy, and was the last product of Greek philosophy.

Nipplewort (n.) A yellow-flowered composite herb (Lampsana communis), formerly used as an external application to the nipples of women; -- called also dock-cress.

Nonillion (n.) According to the French and American notation, a thousand octillions, or a unit with thirty ciphers annexed; according to the English notation, a million octillions, or a unit with fifty-four ciphers annexed. See the Note under Numeration.

Nonuniformist (n.) One who believes that past changes in the structure of the earth have proceeded from cataclysms or causes more violent than are now operating; -- called also nonuniformitarian.

Androdioecious (a.) Alt. of -diecious

Anisospore (n.) A sexual spore in which the sexes differ in size; -- opposed to isospore.

Anthracosis (n.) A chronic lung disease, common among coal miners, due to the inhalation of coal dust; -- called also collier's lung and miner's phthisis.

Asynchronous (a.) Not simultaneous; not concurrent in time; -- opposed to synchronous.

Autoecious (a.) Passing through all its stages on one host, as certain parasitic fungi; -- contrasted with heteroecious.

Battalion (n.) An infantry command of two or more companies, which is the tactical unit of the infantry, or the smallest command which is self-supporting upon the battlefield, and also the unit in which the strength of the infantry of an army is expressed.

Centauromachy (n.) A fight in which centaurs take part, -- a common theme for relief sculpture, as in the Parthenon metopes.

Cinematograph (n.) A machine, combining magic lantern and kinetoscope features, for projecting on a screen a series of pictures, moved rapidly (25 to 50 a second) and intermittently before an objective lens, and producing by persistence of vision the illusion of continuous motion; a moving-picture machine; also, any of several other machines or devices producing moving pictorial effects. Other common names for the cinematograph are animatograph, biograph, bioscope, electrograph, electroscope, > Colorado (a.) Reddish; -- often used in proper names of rivers or creeks.

Colorado (a.) Medium in color and strength; -- said of cigars.

Decathlon (n.) In the modern Olympic Games, a composite contest consisting of a 100-meter run, a broad jump, putting the shot, a running high-jump, a 400-meter run, throwing the discus, a 100-meter hurdle race, pole vaulting, throwing the javelin, and a 1500-meter run.

Escalator (n.) A stairway or incGorgonzola (n.) A kind of Italian pressed milk cheese; -- so called from a village near Milan.

Graffito (n.) Production of decorative designs by scratching them through a surface of layer plaster, glazing, etc., revealing a different-colored ground; also, pottery or ware so decorated; -- chiefly used attributively.

Huaracho (n.) A kind of sandal worn by Indians and the lower classes generally; -- usually used in pl.

Induction generator () A machine built as an induction motor and driven above synchronous speed, thus acting as an alternating-current generator; -- called also asynchronous generator. Below synchronism the machine takes in electrical energy and acts as an induction motor; at synchronism the power component of current becomes zero and changes sign, so that above synchronism the machine (driven for thus purpose by mechanical power) gives out electrical energy as a generator.

Induction motor () A type of alternating-current motor comprising two wound members, one stationary, called the stator, and the other rotating, called the rotor, these two members corresponding to a certain extent to the field and armature of a direct-current motor.

Jeffersonian simplicity () The absence of pomp or display which Jefferson aimed at in his administration as President (1801-1809), eschewing display or ceremony tending to distinguish the President from the people, as in going to the capital on horseback and with no escort, the abolition of court etiquette and the weekly levee, refusal to recognize titles of honor, etc.

Knockabout (n.) A small yacht, generally from fifteen to twenty-five feet in length, having a mainsail and a jib. All knockabouts have ballast and either a keel or centerboard. The original type was twenty-one feet in length. The next larger type is called a raceabout.

Knockabout (a.) That does odd jobs; -- said of a class of hands or laborers on a sheep station.

Montessori Method () A system of training and instruction, primarily for use with normal children aged from three to six years, devised by Dr. Maria Montessori while teaching in the "Houses of Childhood" (schools in the poorest tenement districts of Rome, Italy), and first fully described by her in 1909. Leading features are freedom for physical activity (no stationary desks and chairs), informal and individual instruction, the very early development of writing, and an extended sensory and mot> Mycetozoa (n. pl.) The Myxomycetes; -- so called by those who regard them as a class of animals.

Obturator (n.) Any device for preventing the escape of gas through the breech mechanism of a breech-loading gun; a gas check.

Pacifico (n.) A peaceful person; -- applied specif. by the Spaniards to the natives in Cuba and the Philippine Islands who did not oppose the Spanish arms.

Palmetto flag () Any of several flags adopted by South California after its secession. That adopted in November, 1860, had a green cabbage palmetto in the center of a white field; the final one, January, 1861, had a white palmetto in the center of a blue field and a white crescent in the upper left-hand corner.

Palmetto State () South California; -- a nickname alluding to the State Arms, which contain a representation of a palmetto tree.

Peachblow (a.) Of the delicate purplish pink color likened to that of peach blooms; -- applied esp. to a Chinese porcelain, small specimens of which bring great prices in the Western countries.

Photophore (n.) A light-emitting organ; specif., one of the luminous spots on certain marine (mostly deep-sea) fishes.

Projector (n.) An optical instrument for projecting a picture upon a screen, as by a magic lantern or by an instrument for projecting (by reflection instead of transmission of light) a picture of an opaque object, as photographs, picture post-cards, insects, etc., in the colors of the object itself. In this latter form the projection is accomplished by means of a combination of lenses with a prism and a mirror or reflector. Specific instruments have been called by different names, such as radi> Quintroon (n.) The off-spring of an octoroon and a white person.

Resonator (n.) Any of various apparatus for exhibiting or utilizing the effects of resonance in connection with open circuits, as a device having an oscillating circuit which includes a helix of bare copper wire, a variable number of coils of which can be connected in circuit with a condenser and spark gap excited with an induction coil. It is used to create high-frequency electric brush discharges.

Resonator (n.) The antenna system and other high-frequency circuits of a receiving apparatus.

Tachyscope (n.) An early form of antimated-picture machine, devised in 1889 by Otto Anschutz of Berlin, in which the chronophotographs were mounted upon the periphery of a rotating wheel.

Tenderloin (n.) In New York City, the region which is the center of the night life of fashionable amusement, including the majority of the theaters, etc., centering on Broadway. The term orig. designates the old twenty-ninth police precinct, in this region, which afforded the police great opportunities for profit through conniving at vice and lawbreaking, one captain being reported to have said on being transferred there that whereas he had been eating chuck steak he would now eat tenderlion. > Thermomotor (n.) A heat engine; a hot-air engine.

Xylotomous (a.) Capable of boring or cutting wood; -- said of many insects.

Obligatory (a.) Binding in law or conscience; imposing duty or obligation; requiring performance or forbearance of some act; -- often followed by on or upon; as, obedience is obligatory on a soldier.

Obsession (n.) The state of being besieged; -- used specifically of a person beset by a spirit from without.

Octillion (n.) According to the French method of numeration (which method is followed also in the United States) the number expressed by a unit with twenty-seven ciphers annexed. According to the English method, the number expressed by a unit with forty-eight ciphers annexed. See Numeration.

Oligomyold (a.) Having few or imperfect syringeal muscles; -- said of some passerine birds (Oligomyodi).

Olivaceous (a.) Resembling the olive; of the color of the olive; olive-green.

Omniferous (a.) All-bearing; producing all kinds.

Omniscious (a.) All-knowing.

Omnivorous (a.) All-devouring; eating everything indiscriminately; as, omnivorous vanity; esp. (Zool.), eating both animal and vegetable food.

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.

Opodeldoc (n.) A kind of plaster, said to have been invented by Mindererus, -- used for external injuries.

Orangeroot (n.) An American ranunculaceous plant (Hidrastis Canadensis), having a yellow tuberous root; -- also called yellowroot, golden seal, etc.

Orthodromics (n.) The art of sailing in a direct course, or on the arc of a great circle, which is the shortest distance between any two points on the surface of the globe; great-circle sailing; orthodromy.

Orthotropic (a.) Having the longer axis vertical; -- said of erect stems.

Oryctere (n.) The aard-vark.

Oxyquinoline (n.) Hydroxy quinoline; a phenol derivative of quinoline, -- called also carbostyril.

Pachyglossal (a.) Having a thick tongue; -- applied to a group of lizards (Pachyglossae), including the iguanas and agamas.

Palladious (a.) Of, pertaining to, or containing, palladium; -- used specifically to designate those compounds in which palladium has a lower valence as compared with palladic compounds.

Paludicole (a.) Marsh-inhabiting; belonging to the Paludicolae

Pantoscopic (a.) Literally, seeing everything; -- a term applied to eyeglasses or spectacles divided into two segments, the upper being designed for distant vision, the lower for vision of near objects.

Parethmoid (a.) Near or beside the ethmoid bone or cartilage; -- applied especially to a pair of bones in the nasal region of some fishes, and to the ethmoturbinals in some higher animals.

Paronymous (a.) Having the same derivation; allied radically; conjugate; -- said of certain words, as man, mankind, manhood, etc.

Paronymous (a.) Having a similar sound, but different orthography and different meaning; -- said of certain words, as al/ and awl; hair and hare, etc.

Pendragon (n.) A chief leader or a king; a head; a dictator; -- a title assumed by the ancient British chiefs when called to lead other chiefs.

Pentacrostic (n.) A set of verses so disposed that the name forming the subject of the acrostic occurs five times -- the whole set of verses being divided into five different parts from top to bottom.

Percheron (n.) One of a breed of draught horses originating in Perche, an old district of France; -- called also Percheron-Norman.

Perigynous (a.) Having the ovary free, but the petals and stamens borne on the calyx; -- said of flower such as that of the cherry or peach.

Petaliform (a.) Having the form of a petal; petaloid; petal-shaped.

Phaeospore (n.) A brownish zoospore, characteristic of an order (Phaeosporeae) of dark green or olive-colored algae.

Phalangoidea (n. pl.) A division of Arachnoidea, including the daddy longlegs or harvestman (Phalangium) and many similar kinds. They have long, slender, many-jointed legs; usually a rounded, segmented abdomen; and chelate jaws. They breathe by tracheae. Called also Phalangides, Phalangidea, Phalangiida, and Opilionea.

Pharmacognosis (n.) That branch of pharmacology which treats of unprepared medicines or simples; -- called also pharmacography, and pharmacomathy.

Pharyngobranchial (a.) Of or pertaining to the pharynx and the branchiae; -- applied especially to the dorsal elements in the branchial arches of fishes. See Pharyngeal.

Phylactolaemata (n. pl.) An order of fresh-water Bryozoa in which the tentacles are arranged on a horseshoe-shaped lophophore, and the mouth is covered by an epistome. Called also Lophopoda, and hippocrepians.

Phyllophagous (a.) Substituting on leaves; leaf-eating.

Phyllosoma (n.) The larva of the spiny lobsters (Palinurus and allied genera). Its body is remarkably thin, flat, and transparent; the legs are very long. Called also glass-crab, and glass-shrimp.

Pigeonfoot (n.) The dove's-foot geranium (Geranium molle).

Pigeonhole (n.) A small compartment in a desk or case for the keeping of letters, documents, etc.; -- so called from the resemblance of a row of them to the compartments in a dovecote.

Pigeonhole (n.) A small compartment in a desk or case for the keeping of letters, documents, etc.; -- so called from the resemblance of a row of them to the compartments in a dovecote.

Pimpillo (n.) A West Indian name for the prickly pear (Opuntia); -- called also pimploes.

Plumbago (n.) A genus of herbaceous plants with pretty salver-shaped corollas, usually blue or violet; leadwort.

Pneumatograph (n.) An instrument for recording the movements of the thorax or chest wall during respiration; -- also called stethograph.

Pneumonophora (n. pl.) The division of Siphonophora which includes the Physalia and allied genera; -- called also Pneumatophorae.

Pneumonophora (n. pl.) The division of Siphonophora which includes the Physalia and allied genera; -- called also Pneumatophorae.

Polyautography (n.) The act or practice of multiplying copies of one's own handwriting, or of manuscripts, by printing from stone, -- a species of lithography.

Polychroite (n.) The coloring matter of saffron; -- formerly so called because of the change of color on treatment with certain acids; -- called also crocin, and safranin.

Polychrome (n.) Esculin; -- so called in allusion to its fluorescent solutions.

Polychromous (a.) Of or pertaining to polychromy; many-colored; polychromatic.

Polygamous (a.) Of or pertaining to polygamy; characterized by, or involving, polygamy; having a plurality of wives; as, polygamous marriages; -- opposed to monogamous.

Polypidom (n.) A coral, or corallum; also, one of the coral-like structure made by bryozoans and hydroids.

Polytomous (a.) Subdivided into many distinct subordinate parts, which, however, not being jointed to the petiole, are not true leaflets; -- said of leaves.

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

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

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

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

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

Postticous (a.) Situated on the outer side of a filament; -- said of an extrorse anther.

Potentiometer (n.) An instrument for measuring or comparing electrial potentials or electro-motive forces.

Precentor (n.) The leader of the choir in a cathedral; -- called also the chanter or master of the choir.

Precocious (a.) Developed more than is natural or usual at a given age; exceeding what is to be expected of one's years; too forward; -- used especially of mental forwardness; as, a precocious child; precocious talents.

Predisposition (n.) The act of predisposing, or the state of being predisposed; previous inclination, tendency, or propensity; predilection; -- applied to the mind; as, a predisposition to anger.

Predisposition (n.) Previous fitness or adaptation to any change, impression, or purpose; susceptibility; -- applied to material things; as, the predisposition of the body to disease.

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

Propitious (a.) Hence, kind; gracious; merciful; helpful; -- said of a person or a divinity.

Protectorate (n.) Government by a protector; -- applied especially to the government of England by Oliver Cromwell.

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

Provision (n.) Especially, a stock of food; any kind of eatables collected or stored; -- often in the plural.

Provisional (a.) Of the nature of a provision; serving as a provision for the time being; -- used of partial or temporary arrangements; as, a provisional government; a provisional treaty.

Prunello (n.) A smooth woolen stuff, generally black, used for making shoes; a kind of lasting; -- formerly used also for clergymen's gowns.

Pulvillo (n.) A kind of perfume in the form of a powder, formerly much used, -- often in little bags.

Punctator (n.) One who marks with points. specifically, one who writes Hebrew with points; -- applied to a Masorite.

Pupigerous (a.) Bearing or containing a pupa; -- said of dipterous larvae which do not molt when the pupa is formed within them.

Pupiparous (a.) Bearing, or containing, a pupa; -- said of the matured larvae, or larval skins, of certain Diptera.

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.

Pyramidoid (n.) A solid resembling a pyramid; -- called also pyramoid.

Pyrochlore (n.) A niobate of calcium, cerium, and other bases, occurring usually in octahedrons of a yellowish or brownish color and resinous luster; -- so called from its becoming grass-green on being subjected to heat under the blowpipe.

Quadrifoliate (a.) Four-leaved; having the leaves in whorls of four.

Rampacious (a.) High-spirited; rampageous.

Rattlebox (n.) Any species of Crotalaria, a genus of yellow-flowered herbs, with inflated, many-seeded pods.

Reduction (v. t.) The bringing of a syllogism in one of the so-called imperfect modes into a mode in the first figure.

Refractory (a.) Resisting ordinary treatment; difficult of fusion, reduction, or the like; -- said especially of metals and the like, which do not readily yield to heat, or to the hammer; as, a refractory ore.

Retractor (n.) In breech-loading firearms, a device for withdrawing a cartridge shell from the barrel.

Revulsion (n.) A sudden reaction; a sudden and complete change; -- applied to the feelings.

Rhinophore (n.) One of the two tentacle-like organs on the back of the head or neck of a nudibranch or tectibranch mollusk. They are usually retractile, and often transversely furrowed or plicate, and are regarded as olfactory organs. Called also dorsal tentacles. See Illust. under Pygobranchia, and Opisthobranchia.

Rhodammonium (a.) Pertaining to, derived from, or containing, rhodium and ammonia; -- said of certain complex compounds.

Roundabout (n.) A horizontal wheel or frame, commonly with wooden horses, etc., on which children ride; a merry-go-round.

Rubiginous (a.) Having the appearance or color of iron rust; rusty-looking.

Saccharonic (a.) Of, pertaining to, or derived from, saccharone; specifically, designating an unstable acid which is obtained from saccharone (a) by hydration, and forms a well-known series of salts.

Salutatorian (n.) The student who pronounces the salutatory oration at the annual Commencement or like exercises of a college, -- an honor commonly assigned to that member of the graduating class who ranks second in scholarship.

Salutatory (a.) Containing or expressing salutations; speaking a welcome; greeting; -- applied especially to the oration which introduces the exercises of the Commencements, or similar public exhibitions, in American colleges.

Sanguivorous (a.) Subsisting upon blood; -- said of certain blood-sucking bats and other animals. See Vampire.

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.

Saxicavous (a.) Boring, or hollowing out, rocks; -- said of certain mollusks which live in holes which they burrow in rocks. See Illust. of Lithodomus.

Scrotiform (a.) Purse-shaped; pouch-shaped.

Scyphiform (a.) Cup-shaped.

Sensationalism (n.) The doctrine held by Condillac, and by some ascribed to Locke, that our ideas originate solely in sensation, and consist of sensations transformed; sensualism; -- opposed to intuitionalism, and rationalism.

Setiparous (a.) Producing setae; -- said of the organs from which the setae of annelids arise.

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

Sforzato (a.) Forcing or forced; -- a direction placed over a note, to signify that it must be executed with peculiar emphasis and force; -- marked fz (an abbreviation of forzando), sf, sfz, or /.

Shortclothes (n.) Coverings for the legs of men or boys, consisting of trousers which reach only to the knees, -- worn with long stockings.

Shorten (a.) To make deficient (as to); to deprive; -- with of.

Shovelboard (n.) A game played on board ship in which the aim is to shove or drive with a cue wooden disks into divisions chalked on the deck; -- called also shuffleboard.

Shovelnose (n.) A ganoid fish of the Sturgeon family (Scaphirhynchus platyrhynchus) of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers; -- called also white sturgeon.

Show (v. t.) To exhibit or present to view; to place in sight; to display; -- the thing exhibited being the object, and often with an indirect object denoting the person or thing seeing or beholding; as, to show a house; show your colors; shopkeepers show customers goods (show goods to customers).

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

Sicklewort (n.) A plant of the genus Coronilla (C. scorpioides); -- so named from its curved pods.

Sinistrorse (a.) Turning to the left (of the spectator) in the ascending line; -- the opposite of dextrorse. See Dextrorse.

Smoothbore (a.) Having a bore of perfectly smooth surface; -- distinguished from rifled.

Snakestone (n.) An ammonite; -- so called from its form, which resembles that of a coiled snake.

Solicitor (n.) An attorney or advocate; one who represents another in court; -- formerly, in English practice, the professional designation of a person admitted to practice in a court of chancery or equity. See the Note under Attorney.

Solidago (n.) A genus of yellow-flowered composite perennial herbs; golden-rod.

Sombrero (n.) A kind of broad-brimmed hat, worn in Spain and in Spanish America.

Sorrento work () Ornamental work, mostly carved in olivewood, decorated with inlay, made at or near Sorrento, Italy. Hence, more rarely, jig-saw work and the like done anywhere.

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

Spatangoidea (n. pl.) An order of irregular sea urchins, usually having a more or less heart-shaped shell with four or five petal-like ambulacra above. The mouth is edentulous and situated anteriorly, on the under side.

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

Spermatogenous (a.) Sperm-producing.

Spermatophorous (a.) Producing seed, or sperm; seminiferous; as, the so-called spermatophorous cells.

Spermatozoid (n.) The male germ cell in animals and plants, the essential element in fertilization; a microscopic animalcule-like particle, usually provided with one or more cilia by which it is capable of active motion. In animals, the familiar type is that of a small, more or less ovoid head, with a delicate threadlike cilium, or tail. Called also spermatozoon. In plants the more usual term is antherozoid.

Spiccato (a.) Detached; separated; -- a term indicating that every note is to be performed in a distinct and pointed manner.

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.

Spitchcocked (a.) Broiled or fried after being split lengthwise; -- said of eels.

Splashboard (n.) A guard in the front part of vehicle, to prevent splashing by a mud or water from the horse's heels; -- in the United States commonly called dashboard.

Squalodon (n.) A genus of fossil whales belonging to the Phocodontia; -- so called because their are serrated, like a shark's.

Squaterole (n.) The black-bellied plover.

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

Staccato (a.) Disconnected; separated; distinct; -- a direction to perform the notes of a passage in a short, distinct, and pointed manner. It is opposed to legato, and often indicated by heavy accents written over or under the notes, or by dots when the performance is to be less distinct and emphatic.

Stelliform (a.) Like a star; star-shaped; radiated.

Stenostome (a.) Having a small or narrow mouth; -- said of certain small ground snakes (Opoterodonta), which are unable to dilate their jaws.

Stinkstone (n.) One of the varieties of calcite, barite, and feldspar, which emit a fetid odor on being struck; -- called also swinestone.

Subriguous (a.) Watered or wet beneath; well-watered.

Successor (n.) One who succeeds or follows; one who takes the place which another has left, and sustains the like part or character; -- correlative to predecessor; as, the successor of a deceased king.

Suchospondylous (a.) Having dorsal vertebrae with long and divided transverse processes; -- applied to certain reptiles.

Suprachoroidal (a.) Situated above the choroid; -- applied to the layer of the choroid coat of the eyeball next to the sclerotic.

Supraglotic (a.) Situated above the glottis; -- applied to that part of the cavity of the larynx above the true vocal cords.

Supratrochlear (a.) Situated over or above a trochlea or trochlear surface; -- applied esp. to one of the subdivisions of the trigeminal nerve.

Swarmspore (n.) One of the minute flagellate germs produced by the sporulation of a protozoan; -- called also zoospore.

Synanthous (a.) Having flowers and leaves which appear at the same time; -- said of certain plants.

Tablespoon (n.) A spoon of the largest size commonly used at the table; -- distinguished from teaspoon, dessert spoon, etc.

Tachyglossa (n. pl.) A division of monotremes which comprises the spiny ant-eaters of Australia and New Guinea. See Illust. under Echidna.

Teinoscope (n.) An instrument formed by combining prisms so as to correct the chromatic aberration of the light while linear dimensions of objects seen through the prisms are increased or diminished; -- called also prism telescope.

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

Thermetograph (n.) A self-registering thermometer, especially one that registers the maximum and minimum during long periods.

Thermidor (n.) The eleventh month of the French republican calendar, -- commencing July 19, and ending August 17. See the Note under Vendemiaire.

Throatwort (n.) A plant (Campanula Trachelium) formerly considered a remedy for sore throats because of its throat-shaped corolla.

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.

Touchstone (n.) Lydian stone; basanite; -- so called because used to test the purity of gold and silver by the streak which is left upon the stone when it is rubbed by the metal. See Basanite.

Trachelobranchiate (a.) Having the gills situated upon the neck; -- said of certain mollusks.

Trachytoid (a.) Resembling trachyte; -- used to define the structure of certain rocks.

Traditional (a.) Observant of tradition; attached to old customs; old-fashioned.

Tremando (a.) Trembling; -- used as a direction to perform a passage with a general shaking of the whole chord.

Trichotomous (a.) Divided into three parts, or into threes; three-forked; as, a trichotomous stem.

Triflorous (a.) Three-flowered; having or bearing three flowers; as, a triflorous peduncle.

Trinitrocellulose (n.) Gun cotton; -- so called because regarded as containing three nitro groups.

Triphthong (n.) A combination of three vowel sounds in a single syllable, forming a simple or compound sound; also, a union of three vowel characters, representing together a single sound; a trigraph; as, eye, -ieu in adieu, -eau in beau, are examples of triphthongs.

Triplicostate (a.) Three-ribbed.

Trisagion (n.) An ancient anthem, -- usually known by its Latin name tersanctus.See Tersanctus.

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

Ultraviolet (a.) Lying outside the visible spectrum at its violet end; -- said of rays more refrangible than the extreme violet rays of the spectrum.

Undershot (a.) Moved by water passing beneath; -- said of a water wheel, and opposed to overshot; as, an undershot wheel.

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

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

Uredospore (n.) The thin-walled summer spore which is produced during the so-called Uredo stage of certain rusts. See (in the Supplement) Uredinales, Heter/cious, etc.

Vigoroso (a. & adv.) Vigorous; energetic; with energy; -- a direction to perform a passage with energy and force.

Villainous (a.) Sorry; mean; mischievous; -- in a familiar sense.

Vinatico (n.) Madeira mahogany; the coarse, dark-colored wood of the Persea Indica.

Vitiligo (n.) A rare skin disease consisting in the development of smooth, milk-white spots upon various parts of the body.

Viviparous (a.) Producing young in a living state, as most mammals, or as those plants the offspring of which are produced alive, either by bulbs instead of seeds, or by the seeds themselves germinating on the plant, instead of falling, as they usually do; -- opposed to oviparous.

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

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

Whereabouts (adv.) About where; near what or which place; -- used interrogatively and relatively; as, whereabouts did you meet him?

Whiggamore (n.) A Whig; -- a cant term applied in contempt to Scotch Presbyterians.

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

Xylopyrography (n.) The art or practice of burning pictures on wood with a hot iron; -- called also poker painting. See Poker picture, under Poker.

Yellowwort (n.) A European yellow-flowered, gentianaceous (Chlora perfoliata). The whole plant is intensely bitter, and is sometimes used as a tonic, and also in dyeing yellow.

Yestermorn (n.) Alt. of Yester-morning

Ypsiliform (a.) Resembling the / in appearance; -- said of the germinal spot in the ripe egg at one of the stages of fecundation.

Zalambdodont (a.) Of or pertaining to a tribe (Zalambdodonta) of Insectivora in which the molar teeth have but one V-shaped ridge.

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

Zoophorous (n.) The part between the architrave and cornice; the frieze; -- so called from the figures of animals carved upon it.

Zoospore (n.) A spore provided with one or more slender cilia, by the vibration of which it swims in the water. Zoospores are produced by many green, and by some olive-brown, algae. In certain species they are divided into the larger macrozoospores and the smaller microzoospores. Called also sporozoid, and swarmspore.

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 by Mark McCracken, All Rights Reserved.