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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



227 words match “EVOLUTION”

SEXUAL a.
on account of greater activity, strength, courage, etc.; applied likewise to that kind of evolution which results from such sexual preferences. Darwin. In these cases, therefore, natural selection seems to have acted independently of sexual selection. A. R. Wallace.
SHOOTING a.
g star. Shooting stars are small cosmical bodies which encounter the earth in its annual revolution, and which become visible by coming with planetary velocity into the upper regions of the atmosphere. At certain periods, as on the 13th of November and 10th of August, they appear for a few hours in great numbers, appar…
SIDEREAL a.
accompanied, by a return to the same position in respect to the stars; as, the sidereal revolution of a planet; a sidereal day. Sidereal clock, day, month, year. See under Clock, Day, etc. -- Sideral time, time as reckoned by sideral days, or, taking the sidereal day as the unit, the time elapsed since a transit of t…
SOCIALISM n.
roperty and labor. In popular usage, the term is often employed to indicate any lawless, revolutionary social scheme. See Communism, Fourierism, Saint-Simonianism, forms of socialism. [Socialism] was first applied in England to Owen's theory of social reconstruction, and in France to those also of St. Simon and Fourier…
SOLAR a.
Measured by the progress or revolution of the sun in the ecliptic; as, the solar year.
SOLID n.
which has length, breadth, and thickness; a part of space bounded on all sides. Solid of revolution. (Geom.) See Revolution, n., 5.
SORBONIST n.
e University of Paris, founded by Robert de Sorbon, a. d. 1252. It was suppressed in the Revolution of 1789.
SPEED n.
ach.), devices for indicating or recording the rate of a body's motion, as the number of revolutions of a shaft in a given time. -- Speed lathe (Mach.), a power lathe with a rapidly revolving spindle, for turning small objects, for polishing, etc.; a hand lathe. -- Speed pulley, a cone pulley with steps.…
SPEED COUNTER n.
A device for automatically counting the revolutions or pulsations of an engine or other machine; -- called also simply counter.
SPHEROID n.
ure approaching to a sphere, but not perfectly spherical; esp., a solid generated by the revolution of an ellipse about one of its axes. Oblate spheroid, Prolate spheroid. See Oblate, Prolate, and Ellipsoid.
SPINDLE n.
A solid generated by the revolution of a curved line about its base or double ordinate or chord.
SPIRE n.
The part of a spiral generated in one revolution of the straight line about the pole. See Spiral, n. Spire bearer. (Paleon.) Same as Spirifer.
SPONTANEOUS a.
taneous growth of wood. Spontaneous combustion, combustion produced in a substance by the evolution of heat through the chemical action of its own elements; as, the spontaneous combustion of waste matter saturated with oil. -- Spontaneous generation. (Biol.) See under Generation.
STATES-GENERAL n.
In France, before the Revolution, the assembly of the three orders of the kingdom, namely, the clergy, the nobility, and the third estate, or commonalty.
STAY n.
on of motion or progression; stand; stop. Made of sphere metal, never to decay Until his revolution was at stay. Milton. Affairs of state seemed rather to stand at a stay. Hayward.
SUCCESSIVE a.
terval; following one after another in a line or series; consecutive; as, the successive revolution of years; the successive kings of Egypt; successive strokes of a hammer. Send the successive ills through ages down. Prior.
SUN n.
rculate round the central wheel on the shaft, communicating to this latter a velocity of revolution the double of its own. G. Francis. -- Sun angel (Zoöl.), a South American humming bird of the genus Heliangelos, noted for its beautiful colors and the brilliant luster of the feathers of its throat. -- Sun animalcute.…
SYNDICALISM n.
effective, whether it be a simple strike, a peaceful public demonstration, sabotage, or revolutionary violence. By the general strike and direct action syndicalism aims to establish a social system in which the means and processes of production are in the control of local organizations of workers, who are manage them…
SYNODIC; SYNODICAL a.
he sun, to the next; as, a synodical month (see Lunar month, under Month); the synodical revolution of the moon or a planet.
TACTICS n.
isposing military and naval forces in order for battle, and performing military and naval evolutions. It is divided into grand tactics, or the tactics of battles, and elementary tactics, or the tactics of instruction.
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