Search the Dictionary

Capable of being attained or reached by efforts of the mind or body; capable of being compassed or accomplished by efforts directed to the object. The highest pitch of perfection attainable in this life. Addison.

idental glory added to the bliss of heaven, as a reward to those (as virgins, martyrs, preachers, etc.) who have overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil.

A way or opening for entrance into a place; a passage by which a place may by reached; a way of approach or of exit. "The avenues leading to the city by land." Macaulay. On every side were expanding new avenues of inquiry. Milman.

The degree of bachelor of arts. (B.A. or A.B.), the first or lowest academical degree conferred by universities and colleges.

or vault. -- Back pressure. (Steam Engine) See under Pressure. -- Back rest, a guide attached to the slide rest of a lathe, and placed in contact with the work, to steady it in turning. -- Back slang, a kind of slang in which every word is written or pronounced backwards; as, nam for man. -- Back stairs, stairs in…

A board attached to the rim of a water wheel to prevent the water from running off the floats or paddies into the interior of the wheel. W. Nicholson.

sty luncheon. Bait bug (Zoöl), a crustacean of the genus Hippa found burrowing in sandy beaches. See Anomura.

twelve feet long, and sometimes a foot wide, which in certain whales (Balænoidea) are attached side by side along the upper jaw, and form a fringelike sieve by which the food is retained in the mouth.

s or heated air, so as to rise and float in the atmosphere; especially, one with a car attached for aërial navigation.

A kind of flag attached to a spear or pike by a crosspiece, and used by a chief as his standard in battle. Hang out our banners on the outward walls. Shak.

ings. -- Barn swallow (Zoöl.), the common American swallow (Hirundo horreorum), which attaches its nest of mud to the beams and rafters of barns.

of electric waves. The original form consisted of an extremely fine platinum wire loop attached to terminals and inclosed in a small glass or silver bulb. In a later variety, called the liquid barretter, wire is replace by a column of liquid in a very fine capillary tube.

That extremity of a leaf, fruit, etc., at which it is attached to its support.

A building used by the Romans as a place of public meeting, with court rooms, etc., attached.

The contents of a basket; as much as a basket contains; as, a basket of peaches.

ritten out continuously, while the other parts of the harmony are indicated by figures attached to the bass; continued bass.

ther. The distance between the flanks of a bastion is called the gorge. A lunette is a detached bastion. See Ravelin.

, angry and violent, or negligent touching of another's person or clothes, or anything attached to his person or held by him.

A cupping glass to which are attached a scarificator and an exhausting syringe. Dunglison.

name of many species of amphipod Crustacea, of the family Orchestidæ, living on the sea beaches, and leaping like fleas. -- Beach grass (Bot.), a coarse grass (Ammophila arundinacea), growing on the sandy shores of lakes and seas, which, by its interlaced running rootstocks, binds the sand together, and resists the en…