Search the Dictionary

Tender to the touch; susceptible of pain from pressure; inflamed; painful; -- said of the body or its parts; as, a sore hand.

That which, like a spark, may be kindled into a flame, or into action; a feeble germ; an elementary principle. "If any spark of life be yet remaining." Shak. "Small intellectual spark." Macaulay. "Vital spark of heavenly flame." Pope. We have here and there a little clear light, some sparks of bright knowledge. Locke.…

nstrument for forming and examining spectra (as that of solar light, or those produced by flames in which different substances are volatilized), so as to determine, from the position of the spectral lines, the composition of the substance.

the different relative positions and qualities of the fixed lines of spectra produced by flames in which different substances are burned or evaporated, each substance having its own characteristic system of lines. -- Thermal spectrum, a spectrum of rays considered solely with reference to their heating effect, especi…

eeping. The birds were not fledged; but upon sprawling and struggling to get clear of the flame, down they tumbled. L'Estrange.

ith a noise like that made by one sputtering. Like the green wood . . . sputtering in the flame. Dryden.

Consisting of, or proceeding from, the stars; stellar; stellary; as, starry light; starry flame. Do not Christians and Heathens, Jews and Gentiles, poets and philosophers, unite in allowing the starry influence Sir W. Scott.

To continue in a state. The flames augment, and stay At their full height, then languish to decay. Dryden.

A gleam of light; flame. [Obs.]

es are furnished; a hothouse. [Obs.] As burning Ætna from his boiling stew Doth belch out flames. Spenser. The Lydians were inhibited by Cyrus to use any armor, and give themselves to baths and stews. Abp. Abbot.

drogen on antimony. It has a characteristic odor and burns with a characteristic greenish flame. Formerly called also antimoniureted hydrogen.

ould obey. Sir P. Sidney. Our former chiefs, like sticklers of the war, First sought to inflame the parties, then to poise. Dryden.

stop; to extinguish; to deaden; to quench; as, to stifle the breath; to stifle a fire or flame. Bodies . . . stifle in themselves the rays which they do not reflect or transmit. Sir I. Newton.

Cold as a stone. Stone-cold without, within burnt with love's flame. Fairfax.

but harder than calcium. It is chiefly employed (as in the nitrate) to color pyrotechnic flames red. Symbol Sr. Atomic weight 87.3. A radioactive isotope of strontium produced by certain nuclear reactions, and constituting one of the prominent harmful components of radioactive fallout from nuclear explosions; also cal…

An inflamed swelling or boil on the edge of the eyelid. [Written also stye.]

h; to sigh; to breathe. Shak. Fireflies that suspire In short, soft lapses of transported flame. Mrs. Browning.

To melt and run down, as the tallow of a candle; to waste away without feeding the flame. [Written also swale.] Sir W. Scott.

t; to accomplish a purpose; as, he was inoculated, but the virus did not take. Shak. When flame taketh and openeth, it giveth a noise. Bacon. In impressions from mind to mind, the impression taketh, but is overcome . . . before it work any manifest effect. Bacon.

and makes mischief. Spies and talebearers, encouraged by her father, did their best to inflame her resentment. Macaulay.