Search the Dictionary

A short caulis or stem, esp. the rudimentary stem seen in the embryo of seed; -- otherwise called a radicle.

, esp. C. annuum and C. Frutescens; -- Called also red pepper. It is used chiefly as a condiment.

An instrument measuring the dimensions of the head of a fetus during delivery.

A cistern in the course, or the termination, of a drain, to collect sedimentary or superfluous matter; a privy vault; any receptace of filth. [Written also sesspool.]

One of a tropical family of snakelike lizards (Chalcidæ), having four small or rudimentary legs.

A kind of spider monkey (Ateles chameck), having the thumbs rudimentary and without a nail.

A chicken; -- used as a diminutive or pet name, especially in calling fowls.

Having that cloudiness or dimness of surface that is called "blooming."

To cut small pieces from; to diminsh or reduce to shape, by cutting away a little at a time; to hew. Shak.

is Quatorze and Louis Quinze; Chinese Chippendale, marked by latticework and pagodalike pediments; and Gothic Chippendale, attempting to adapt medieval details. The forms, as of the cabriole and chairbacks, often resemble Queen Anne. In chairs, the seat is widened at the front, and the back toward the top widened and b…

A warm or spicy condiment or pickle made in India, compounded of various vegetable substances, sweets, acids, etc.

Without diminution; in full; net; as, clear profit. I often wished that I had clear, For life, six hundred pounds a-year. Swift .

The act of cutting off, curtailing, or diminishing; the practice of clipping the edges of coins. clipping by Englishmen is robbing the honest man who receives clipped money. Locke.

That which hinders or impedes motion; hence, an encumbrance, restraint, or impediment, of any kind. All the ancient, honest, juridical principles and institutions of England are so many clogs to check and retard the headlong course of violence and opression. Burke.

in fish is prohibited by law. -- Close vowel (Pron.), a vowel which is pronounced with a diminished aperture of the lips, or with contraction of the cavity of the mouth. -- Close to the wind (Naut.), directed as nearly to the point from which the wind blows as it is possible to sail; closehauled; -- said of a vessel.…

A sluice used in returning water to a channel after depositing its sediment on the flooded land. Knight.

A small boat. Yond tall anchoring bark [appears] Diminished to her cock; her cock, a buoy Almost too small for sight. Shak.

The first rudiments of an embryo in generation. Dr. H. More.

Comfort supposes the relief to be afforded by imparting positive enjoyment, as well as a diminution of pain. "Consolation, or comfort, signifies some alleviation to that pain to which it is not in our power to afford the proper and adequate remedy; they imply rather an augmentation of the power of bearing, than a dimi…

Gradual diminution by the removal of small particles at a time; a lessening; a wearing away. Natural and necessary comminution of our lives. Johnson.