Search the Dictionary

ot yielding. Medicines used unnecessarily contribute to shorten life, by sooner rendering peculiar parts of the system disobedient to stimuli. E. Darwin.

To cause to appear as if at a distance; to make seem remote. His peculiar art of distancing an object to aggrandize his space. H. Miller.

Marking or expressing distinction or difference; distinguishing; characteristic; peculiar. The distinctive character and institutions of New England. Bancroft.

Constituting difference, or distinction from everything else; distinctive; peculiar; characteristic. The distinguishing doctrines of our holy religion. Locke. Distinguishing pennant (Naut.), a special pennant by which any particular vessel in a fleet is recognized and signaled. Simmonds.

re formed by the division of the parent cell. In this process, the cell nucleus undergoes peculiar differentiations and changes, as shown in the figure (see also Karyokinesis). At the same time the protoplasm of the cell becomes gradually constricted by a furrow transverse to the long axis of the nuclear spindle, follo…

A cloak of a peculiar fashion worn by women.

A peculiar action of the tongue by flute players in articulating staccato notes; also, the rapid repetition of notes in cornet playing.

A deviation from the line of fire, peculiar to oblong projectiles.

The crab plover (Dromas ardeola), a peculiar North African bird, allied to the oyster catcher.

its fibers to the condition of a dry powdery dust, often accompanied by the presence of a peculiar fungus (Merulius lacrymans), which is sometimes considered the cause of the decay; but it is more probable that the real cause is the decomposition of the wood itself. D. C. Eaton. Called also sap rot, and, in the United…

Double; twofold. Duplex escapement, a peculiar kind of watch escapement, in which the scape-wheel has two sets of teeth. See Escapement. -- Duplex lathe, one for turning off, screwing, and surfacing, by means of two cutting tools, on opposite sides of the piece operated upon. -- Duplex pumping engine, a steam pump in…

olland. Dutchman's breeches (Bot.), a perennial American herb (Dicentra cucullaria), with peculiar double-spurred flowers. See Illust. of Dicentra. -- Dutchman's laudanum (Bot.), a West Indian passion flower (Passiflora Murucuja); also, its fruit. -- Dutchman's pipe (Bot.), an American twining shrub (Aristolochia Sip…

g; specif., thinking words as spoken, as a result of familiarity with speech or of mental peculiarity; -- opposed to eye-minded.

ich often cause death. It is the larval stage of the Tænia echinococcus, a small tapeworm peculiar to the dog.

rounded molding forming the bell of the capital of the Grecian Doric style, which is of a peculiar elastic curve. See Entablature.

To cause to shine with abundance of light; to radiate; to beam. [R.] His eyes effulging a peculiar fire. Thomson.

er (Elaphurus Davidianus) found in china. It about four feet high at the shoulder and has peculiar antlers.

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. Faraday.

A white crystalline bitter alkaloid extracted from ipecacuanha root, and regarded as its peculiar emetic principle.

A peculiar impressiveness of expression or weight of thought; vivid representation, enforcing assent; as, to dwell on a subject with great emphasis. External objects stand before us . . . in all the life and emphasis of extension, figure, and color. Sir W. Hamilton.